Renuka Taneja, Owner of –`Windows Art and Craft Corner’ speaks to Swati Shah of Panchshila Park about the business of art
She is creating sustainable art out of any material that she can lay her hands on. She started this outfit called Windows-Art and Craft Corner in 2020 to enable out of the box thinking. A graduate of College of Art, Delhi, and NID, she is a textile and graphic designer.
She used to teach in NIFT and her daughter being very small, she was impelled to resign as she wanted to be with her little one. This gave birth to “Windows-Art and craft corner”. She does wall paintings in some offices and complexes.
Those were the days when they made lamps, dressing tables and bookshelves out of Cannisters.
In a conversation with Business Samvada, she talked about the various aspects of her business model and the art industry in general:
Q: What is the scope of art training?
Ans: The scope is immense and art teaches children to think out of the box. Instead of holding their hand or asking them to copy a painting or a drawing or a sketch, give them time and space. They will overcome the fear of holding a pen or a brush and will create out of the box.
Q: What revenue can one generate through this medium?
Ans: I didn’t do it for money but I followed my heart and my passion kept opening the doors of creativity. I just followed the path.
Q: How can a young artist get into art training?
Ans: The children who came to me have chosen not so conventional career paths. Some have become designers and some have even taken up education in a rural area. Some are teaching sustainability.
Q: Can one do good business in this field?
Ans: Yes, there is lot of scope as people are now into the business of art. Art is no longer a creative field but a commercial field. If one cannot paint, one can become a curator. You can facilitate exhibitions in art galleries. You can teach. You can start the business of designing gift items, packaging. There are lots of adults and older people who want to learn art so you can conduct classes for young and old. I wish there were galleries exclusively for displaying children’s art. There are lots of schools encouraging art and creativity through sustainability.
Q: How does one stay innovative and relevant in today’s time?
Ans: Give them freedom to create. To be on their own. I had four zones: sketching, painting, colouring and sticking. The children would move freely from one zone to another and would create masterpieces with recyclable material. I used to take the children’s work of art to various schools to be displayed so the others also get inspired.
