Gen Art Folds

Everything good must come to an end. This sad reality came true for the art organization Gen Art last Thursday when after 16 years of showcasing emerging filmmakers, visual artists, fashion designers, musicians and producing more than 100 annual events in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Miami, the non-profit announced it had fallen victim to the recession.

On their website, co-founders and brothers Ian and Stefan Gerard posted their sorrowful goodbye explaining their 18 month economic struggle. ‘We did everything in our power to adjust our business by cutting costs and seeking out alternative funding solutions. However when a major, new, corporate partnership unexpectedly collapsed a few weeks ago, we found ourselves without sufficient resources or time to overcome their sudden and substantial loss of revenue. Their decision had the unintended effect of pushing Gen Art of the edge. We have now halted all operations, have let go all of our amazing staff, and shuttered the business that we hope was in some small way was as close to your heart–as it was ours.’

Melena Ryzik of The New York Times interviewed Ian who explained that in 2008 they were loosing money ‘hand over fist.’ The much needed partnership would have infused $350,000 dollars into the organization. But when the investor pulled out this past March and new investors weren’t stepping up, the organization wasn’t able to sustain it’s growth or debt.

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