New art gallery featuring contemporary animal art makes its debut at Embrace Pet Insurance in Beachwood, OH.
A pet insurance company and an art gallery may seem like an odd combination to some, but in the era of new media and art marketing, it is a perfect fit.
Canton, OH artist BZTAT (AKA Vicki Boatright) is teaming up with Embrace Pet Insurance in Beachwood to create the BZTAT Studios Embrace Gallery. The new gallery located at Embrace’s home offices at 23625 Commerce Park, Suite 150 in Beachwood will hold a Holiday Open House Reception on Thursday, December 2, 2010 from 4pm – 8pm to celebrate the holiday season. A Grand Opening celebration for the gallery will be planned later on in the New Year.
Embrace CEO Laura Bennett first connected with artist BZTAT online through social media. They met in person at the BlogPaws pet blogging conference in Columbus, OH in April and again at the second BlogPaws conference in Denver, CO in September. Recognizing that they shared an interest in pets and that their business purposes overlapped, they forged a partnership that served both entrepreneurs well.
“Having an art gallery in our offices is an exciting venture for Embrace,” said Bennett. “Not only do we have the opportunity to have high quality artwork on our walls, the gallery helps us achieve one of our core values, which is to serve both the pet community at large and our own communities at home. Being a supporter of the arts brings value to our organization, enhances the local community, and adds to the overall experience for our customers.”
Vicki Boatright, known as BZTAT (pronounced bee-zee-tat), is an accomplished artist based in the burgeoning Canton Arts District some 60 miles south of Beachwood. An avid pet lover and blogger, she is well known to the international pet blogging community through her two blogs and through social media.
Boatright specializes in whimsical paintings, drawings and prints of cats, dogs and other companion animals. She creates colorful, customized pet portraits, which are unique in their original contemporary style and are collected by people around the world. She also creates murals, recently completing a large scale public artwork featuring 4 cats on the side of a building in Canton. She uses the name BZTAT in homage to a feline companion of that name who was with her for 19 years.
Boatright eschews the usual methods of marketing artwork through traditional gallery representation and juried competitions. Through the use of social media and targeted networking, she has developed an international following for her work in a relatively short amount of time.
“I prefer to represent myself through networking with individuals and corporations with a pet focus,” said Boatright. “Most of my artwork is pet oriented, so it makes more sense for me to market my work to people who value their pets and enjoy creativity along pet themes. Representation through traditional galleries can’t give me that kind of focus.”
“Embrace is an organization that values pets, and its customers are pet lovers as well,” Boatright explained further. “They had a fantastic space in their offices that begged to be an art gallery. Partnering with them made so much sense on many fronts.”
Boatright plans to develop the Embrace Gallery into an interactive space, eventually offering classes and workshops that encourage pet-oriented creativity.
You can learn more about the artist and view her artwork at www.bztat.com.
All are welcomed to attend the Holiday Open House Reception on Thursday, December 2, including pets. Light refreshments and pet treats will be served.
Embrace Pet Insurance and the BZTAT Studios Gallery at Embrace are located in the rear of the building at 23625 Commerce Park, Suite 150, Beachwood, OH 44122.
For more information, contact: Vicki Boatright bztat@bztat.com or (330) 371-3150
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