Art as an Enabler:
Creative Blocks
It’s not art unless it’s for all
About Creative Blocks
At Hollard, we’re passionate supporters of the arts. Of all kinds. From sculpture to slam poetry and everything in between. Our mission is to make the arts more accessible to all, ensuring more and more people get to enjoy it and make a living from it.
But why do we have such a passion? Well, art enriches, challenges, opens minds and inspires new ways of thinking and we love that. Art isn’t just an add-on for us, it’s part of us, and our story. We love how art brings people together in a way that creates better futures for everyone.
The Creative Block programme is particularly close to our hearts - it’s unique in that it mentors and promotes up-and-coming artists and provides a wide platform for them to showcase and sell their art. Every month, Spier Arts Trust curator, Jeanetta Blignaut, meets with aspiring artists, critiques their work and helps them increase their work’s commercial appeal. Artists are all given the same small blank canvas on which to create a unique piece of art that reflects their style. Each block is sold at a set, affordable price, making original art accessible to more people, and exposing the artist’s work to a wider audience.
Around 2,000 unique artworks are created and sold locally each year. It’s been wonderful to see talented young artists make a living, creating Better Futures for themselves and buyers.
Need to get in touch with us?
Call Customer Care on
0861 000 107 or email
customerservice@hollard.co.za
More about Creative Blocks
Once a month, art curator Jeanetta Blignaut of Creative Block meets with the artists, gently critiques their work – an enormously valuable exercise for young artists who are still learning their craft - and makes her decisions, based on their execution, subject and commercial appeal.
Artists whose work doesn’t quite make the grade go home, armed with more blocks and a wealth of advice, so they can try again next month, and artists who do have their work selected are paid for it there and then. Regardless of the finished product, each block is sold at a uniform, affordable price (currently R912) and, minus a small fee deducted for materials, this is split three ways between the artist, Creative Block, the agent who buys the work to resell.
It’s a wonderful way for aspiring artists to explore their talent without the need to incur the costs of expensive materials, or a studio. And receiving cash instantly means the successful ones are able to support themselves while they do it. Not only does this enable a talented artist to build a sustainable income stream, but the affordability of Creative Blocks also makes it possible for a whole new audience to start collecting art.
So, while they’re a hit with established collectors, who buy them in numbers to display in groups (such as Spier Wine Farm has done), it’s the idea of an emerging collector being able to indulge their love of art for the first time that also gets us excited. The more people that get involved in collecting, the more sustainable the Arts environment becomes.
Another unique benefit of the project is that owners of Creative Blocks can exchange them for new ones at any time! Because, after all, collectors’ tastes do change.
Since it began in 2004, more than 150 artists have contributed to the Creative Block project. Between them, these artists produce about 2,000 works a year, which are sold locally. There is also a growing following overseas, and Blocks are beginning to be sold internationally. We couldn’t be prouder of our talented artists and look forward to watching this initiative continue to soar!
Creative Blocks are
available at
Street address
Spier Wine Estate, R310, Stellenbosch, Western Cape
Contact number
Street address
Association For Visual Arts Gallery (AVA), 35 Church Street, Cape Town
Contact number
Street address
Hollard Purple Shop, 22 Oxford Rd, Parktown, Johannesburg
Contact number
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