This week, we celebrate the contributions of our small business owners and entrepreneurs with National Small Business Week (NSBW). For more than 60 years, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has celebrated NSBW, acknowledging the hard work, ingenuity, and dedication of our small business owners. In honor of National Small Business Week, we’re highlighting one of our members, Adam Crawford, owner of Cat Eye Creative.
With multiple locations, Cat Eye Creative is home to over 3,000 square feet of gallery and studio space available to artists, designers, brands, and private events. The space is able to host an array of events, from fine art solo exhibits to live music, thanks to a stage, floating walls, and a bar for private dinners and events. Moreover, the space also features an outdoor area, where they hold pop-up markets for artists and other makers.
About Cat Eye Creative
What started as a three-month pop-up in 2019 has evolved into a communal space representing more than 100 artists and dedicated to exhibiting local art alongside works from around the world. Community is key to what they do—their social media following grew during the initial pop-up, extending their stay for six months before they settled into a permanent home. Cat Eye Creative believes art is for everyone, and without a community, there is no art.
“There are different ways [to approach art]—the billionaire budget and go crazy or the person just getting started. Our goal is making it as approachable and educational. You want everyone to fit in: the third grader interested in art, the families, the art connoisseurs,” Crawford said. “With Oakland [Cemetery], we sold more than 8,800 tickets for the Foundation for restoration. Using art as a vessel and a medium to fundraise is huge. You’re coming to see the cemetery at night, but the art and the caliber of the installations bring more people out. They had 1,500 more people this year than previous years.”
Inside the gallery, the exhibitions change every two to four weeks, allowing for a consistent flow of new art and opportunities. And the opportunities abound—from fine-art curation and consulting to large-scale mural installations and artist residencies programs, Cat Eye offers various services, allowing them to serve a wide variety of audiences. As Crawford said, “You need a business sense about it.”
The film industry also provides a source of opportunities. Aside from renting artwork and mural clearance, people who work in the creative industries tend to be supportive collectors, as they understand the value of the pieces. “You never know who will walk through the door,” Crawford stated. “You can get people just walking down the streets who don’t know anything about art, or you’ll have CEOs and entrepreneurs looking to buy for the office or their personal collections. It’s a good communal space to share ideas.”
Because Cat Eye serves so many markets and is determined to guarantee a space for creatives, it was only natural they’d need another location. When looking for a financial partner to take on this next step, Georgia’s Own was the clear choice. Crawford has been a member since his early teens, when his mother—a 40-year member herself—signed him up for a kid’s account. Nearly six years to the day after the pop-up opened, Crawford celebrated the opening of the Decatur location.
Looking ahead
To Crawford, it’s clear that success is more than just monetary. Artists evolve over time, and the jobs and placements are getting bigger. He mentioned placements with Hunter Museum in Chattanooga, Piedmont Healthcare, murals with Fulton County and the City of Hapeville, and of course “I can find you an expensive piece of art but the artist is long gone, and you lose the sense of meeting the artist and following the journey from start to end. Some people really enjoy that and watching their growth—seeing them actively painting a mural or their work getting acquired by a museum,” Crawford said. “We’re supporting the community of artists in a financially sound way. We provide a place where artists and building owners are in the same room at the same time. It’s a unique cultural experience that breaks down those barriers.”
Long-term, Crawford aims to expand what already exists, in particular, a place to support artists, helping them to figure out strategic growth partners, and opportunities for them to mingle with CEOS, breaking down the barriers. “Artists need spaces to show, and they’re not always the most business-minded people,” Crawford added. “We have a space to take work on and store or sell it, and the more locations we have, we can get in front of as many eyes as possible.”
And that would be his advice for new business owners, as well. Crawford didn’t come from an art background, yet has managed to thrive in this industry. “It’s all about baby steps,” Crawford continued. “Stabilize the asset you own and build off that. Just keep expanding, leveraging the clients and opportunities presented, stacking it up, and saving it until the next opportunity.”
Georgia’s Own is proud to support Cat Eye Creative, as well as other small businesses, as a top-five SBA lender in Georgia. In the market for a business loan? Speak to a business loan expert today!
