Grayslake Arts Alliance opens full-time online store

To maintain its support of the arts during COVID-19, the Grayslake Arts Alliance has opened a full-time online store.

Opening its doors just in time for holiday shopping, the nonprofit arts group will showcase as many as 480 pieces from its 60 member artists that include painters, mixed media artists, authors, illustrators, stained glass makers and photographers.

The store opening comes on the heels of a series of web-based events, including two recent art walks held in partnership with Grayslake businesses and two successful online shows earlier this year. Both art walks featured online purchases; the new online store is designed to build on those sales.

"The pandemic, obviously, has had a debilitating impact on every aspect of our lives, emotionally, socially and economically," said Ernest J. Schweit, GAA president and one of its founding members.

Before the pandemic, the GAA would stage four or five in-person shows and a series of education programs at the Grayslake Heritage Center & Museum. But all that changed with COVID 19.

"Since mid-March, when Gov. Pritzker issued the state's stay-at-home order, our leadership team and our members have responded with amazing innovation," he said. "The online store is the latest chapter in that effort."

The online store will be accessible through the group's website, www.grayslakeartsalliance.org, and will feature work that rotates monthly.

"Artwork will be grouped by both medium and genre, making the store easy to navigate," said Paul Price, vice president of the GAA, and chairman of the events committee.

"Our goal is to make the buyer's shopping experience simple and easy," Price said.

Customers will be able to purchase work through a shopping cart system that uses standard credit/debit cards or Google Pay. It will offer multiple fulfillment options, including contactless, in-person delivery by the artists.

Fifteen percent of each sale will help the GAA support its art programming in the community. The GAA is a registered 501c3 dedicated to bringing the arts to Grayslake through education, participation and development.