Portrait of Jen by Stefan Ruiz for Foam Magazine, from about fifteen years ago.
Greetings collectors!
It’s me, Jen. Hope your Saturday’s just grand so far + that this week’s post-summer reentry wasn’t too trying. Lots of you were wringing out the last drops of summer over this past long weekend—and ideally taking a moment to thank unions for the holiday and y’know, weekends in general—so ICYMI: Monday was also 20x200’s 15th birthday. FIFTEEN. That’s major, right?
The angle of this newsletter is meant to be a reflection on this milestone, wherein I share some profound thoughts about the journey, all the incredible people I’ve met along the way, what I’ve learned, etc + so on, but the words are not coming easy. Honestly, it’s hard to wrap my head around it!
Above all, I am grateful to all of the people who have contributed to this art for everyone idea: artists above all, but also colleagues, partners, collaborators and, of course, collectors. The friends and family who’ve supported me literally and figuratively. (And by literally I mean both financially AND like, physically. But those are stories for another day.) I’ve made lifelong friends and a few enemies too. We’ve had some pretty epic highs, and also some lows that brought me to depths that I didn’t know existed + will never forget.
We started out small, with a big idea. And we did get pretty big for a while there, and then we got so small that we nearly disappeared. The world changed around us, and I’d like to think that the artworld has changed a bit because of us.
One thing that I know for certain is that our Art for Everyone is everywhere. We’ve worked with hundreds of artists and put their art in the hands and on the walls of people all over the world. I lost count of how many prints we’ve sold somewhere past the 300,000 mark, and that was years ago. Which is wild, isn’t it?
I’ve seen our art in all kinds of places from dorm rooms + cubicles to starter apartments to palatial abodes that are fancy af. I’ve seen it in friends’ houses, on TV and in the movies, in real estate listings, board rooms, restaurants and hotels. I’ve even caught sight of it through windows while walking down the street. Every time I spot our art in the wild it’s a thrill, and that’s because every single print has had a unique journey and its own story. The beginning of that story is the artist’s vision, and what a privilege it is to be able to help them share that vision with as many people as we’ve been able to. It’s also a privilege to become a part of our collectors’ stories too. One of the coolest things about living with art—besides it being good for you (lol)— is how it’s an anchor to a moment, a memory, a person, a place.
Anyhow, yea: happy birthday to us! Fifteen years is a long time. (I don’t know about you, but by the time I was fifteen, I was pretty sure I knew everything.) One of our newest team members was five years old when we launched the site! Artists who had toddlers when we first started working together have sent those kids off to college. Hell, some of those kids have kids now too. I’m not sure if we have fifteen more years in us, but we’ve certainly got at least five more, because let me tell ya: 20x200’s 20th anniversary is gonna be off the chain. See you here then, k?
