Horses in the Wood by James Pearson

About EBSQ:

Mission

EBSQ is an online art association whose members represent their own work to the public. Our mission is to foster an active community of independent artists, and to provide tools and services to bring our members greater exposure in the art market. EBSQ membership is open--we welcome artists at all stages of their career. All media and styles are welcome.

History

EBSQ (ee-bee-es-CUE) is derived from the name e-Basquiat and has its roots in early online tagging (like, waaay back when tags were still called "keywords.")

The name has two-fold meaning. The early members of the group fancied Basquiat's art (and the innovator of the term--John Seed-- actually worked for Basquiat at one point). They saw themselves (rightly) as rebels outside of the gallery system, taking their art career into their own hands literally and figuratively by selling it directly to their customers via then-fledgling auction site, eBay. That "Self-Representing Artist" category you see now on eBay and other sales platforms? Yup, we did that.

And then there's this little thing that EBSQ'ers have been doing for the past 7 years. Just as Basquiat left the tag "SAMO" all over creation with his art, we leave "EBSQ" as our calling card wherever we put our art online and off, leaving a trail back to our site and other like-minded souls.

What started as an eBay-centric artist group with our own unique keyword and a free-hosted message board back in 2000 has come a long way since then!

Evolution: Service & Community

By 2001, we outgrew our message-board only format and members we clamouring for an "official" online presence. Not long thereafter, my husband Bill and I bought the rights to the EBSQ name and community so we could develop some of the tools our members were asking for and expanded to what you see today. EBSQ Self-Representing Artists is not your typical artists' website. We're passionate about empowering artists! To that end, we've combined an online arts-community atmosphere with easy-to-use tools that we've developed in-house to give our artists the edge via DIY Marketing. Members can have an online presence within minutes of joining, and have access to resources that come from being part of a community of our size. We think you'll enjoy the difference!

The Future: So Bright You Gotta Wear Shades! 

-Amie Gillingham
CEO, EBSQ LLC
web: http://www.ebsqart.com
blog: http://ebsq.livejournal.com 
aotd: http://www.ebsqart.com/aotd.asp
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