Just like you love discovering and rating cool and innovate art websites on StumbleUpon, the SU team loves doing exactly the same thing: finding pieces from local artists to surround ourselves with and get inspiration from while we’re coding, PowerPointing, brainstorming during meetings or chomping on lunch. For the last two years, we’ve been running an art program, which has since matured and reached some local recognition. The idea of an art program came up as a way to support emerging local artists, while also enhancing our work space. Our team is surrounded by different art pieces every month, transforming our offices into art galleries.

Jeff Eddings, Product Manager, sitting next to a painting by Kajahl Benes in StumbleUpon’s San Francisco office.

So how does the art program at StumbleUpon work?

We select emerging local artists and display their art – which can be either painting, photography, collage or sculpture – on the walls of our offices. We then hold an art reception for each artist, where friends and family get together to enjoy the new art over hors d’oeuvres and a glass of wine. Our employees then get to vote on their favorite piece in the entire show, and the winning piece is purchased by StumbleUpon and added to our permanent collection. In addition to that, we give the artist advertising credit on our Ad Platform, which brings 40,000 Stumblers to the artist’s website (not including all the additional organic traffic generated by the publicity around the event).

Visitors mingle at the opening Reception for photographer Bernie DeChant in StumbleUpon's New York office on August 26.

At the end of August we put up fresh art in our New York office, a series of photographs by Bernie DeChant titled “Stories.” Born child number 8 of 9, Bernie was raised in Racine, Wisconsin. After studying art and graphic design in college, he co-founded Adjacency, a web design firm, where he art-directed award-winning projects such as Adobe.com and Apple’s first online store. After a decade of design, Bernie began taking pictures, and ultimately …a journey through Brazil in 2006 sparked him to pursue photography full-time. Bernie lives in Brooklyn, NY.  His pieces will be up in our office until the end of October. You can check more of his work at http://www.berniedechant.com/.

A piece from Bernie DeChant's show on display in StumbleUpon's NY office.

Stumblers embrace the art, literally: SU Team and photographer Bernie DeChant.

If you are an emerging artist living in the Bay Area or greater New York Area and would like to hear more about our art program and how to apply, please email us at artprogram@stumbleupon.com.

To art!