The vision for College Pikasso was born out of late-night basement conversations between Ian Derby and myself, Mike Vecchio, that took place in our hometown of Hudson, Ohio during the summer of 2007.  We saw a brick and mortar space filled wall to wall with the coolest, most fun, and exciting artwork made by young, up and coming artists.  The reality of funding this was where we hit a stopping point.  Instead of pushing our vision aside, we decided to move it online, where more importantly we charged ourselves with turning the traditional gallery experience on its head.

Our vision has come a long way, and in the past 6 months undergone a transformation towards a full reality.  These past months have been a learning experience, and we have been able to reassess exactly what we are doing and why we are doing it – our mission.  Simply put, we are redefining the art experience for everyone – artists, art lovers, and art buyers.  Ultimately we are infusing the world with youthfulness, fun, and color.  Instilling the world with excitement, passion, and originality.  Exploding creativity and playfulness onto the masses.  

More specifically, we provide a platform that helps young, talented, and ambitious artists grow and earn money from what they love and do best – creating artwork.  We also cater to art lovers, finding the best and most exciting new art and making it available at fair prices.  Along the way, we take care of the legwork, and notably take the traditional, stuffy, and quiet gallery experience out of the picture.  With College Pikasso, it is fun, simple, and rewarding to buy and sell art.

So far along, we have and continue to recruit the highest caliber young artists making moves in Northeast Ohio.  We have the pleasure of dealing with some of the coolest and most down to earth artists in an effort to make their art available on College Pikasso, promote them, and grow with them.  I have interviewed them on video for site, and it was truly interesting and fun experience.  We have our website, built by ourselves using a unique platform (Weebly).  After spending years debating the right software vs. web developers (and almost crashing and burning on the way!), it is very satisfying to finally have a complete and easy to use site.  And while it satisfies our needs now, we have agreed to never become complacent, and will always be working to improve College Pikasso.

There it is.  Now you know our secrets.  You know why we are here and what exactly we are doing.  You know what we love, and we know that others will love it too.  If art is a passion for you, browse the site.  If you like what you see, buy it!  The prices are right, and you are supporting young local artists.  If creating art is your forte, get in touch and submit your art for consideration to be on the site!  And never, ever stop doing what makes you happy – creating art!  Feel free to follow along, and chime in where you see fit.

Until next time, take care and have fun!

Yours in art,
-Mike, Co-Founder, CollegePikasso.com