Artwell's mission is to foster creativity as a means to self empowerment by providing fine artists a free medium to display work, find resources, and connect with other artists and patrons.

We provide art enthusiasts a place to view art online, connect with other art patrons and artists, and to keep informed about visual art. All of our services are free of charge, and we do not take commissions on work sold.

The History of Artwell

The concept for an online non-profit organization for unestablished artists was the creation of artists Dorothy Danforth and Alan Thomas, and writer Kellie Hanna in 1995. The Artwell Web presence was launched as "The Artesian Well" in the summer of 1996 with the support of a few local Philadelphia artists. The ground-breaking site was one of the first community focused, free online resources for fine artists.

In those early days, Artwell's main goal was to simply introduce fine artists to the Internet as a channel. In addition to gallery display, Artwell offered a low-cost slide scanning service, art cards of selected works, and acted as a broker for each piece sold through the gallery.

Thanks to early adopting artists such as painters Colleen Corbet, Peter Zhuraw, and Temple Lee Parker, the gallery grew as a venue. By 1998, Artwell accounted for over 100 member artists with active display in the gallery, and a thriving community of fine artists participating from around the world.

"As a visual arts teacher of both senior and junior students, and an artist myself, I find [this web site] not only stimulating for myself personally but an invaluable resource for my students. I can't wait to submit some of my own drawings...chatting with artists on the other side of the world is awesome..." - Jacqueline, Australia

As more fine artists gained access to the net, Artwell changed it's focus to act as a supplementary marketing tool and information resource. The addition of original feature articles, message boards, and a chat for studio artists positioned Artwell as one of only a few sites on the Internet providing rich content with an exclusively fine arts focus.

"My compliments on your excellent article on Richard Garriott-Stejskal. As Fine Art Editor for Albuquerque Arts, Albuquerque's art monthly, I appreciate the skill and talent required to assemble an interesting article. The timeliness of it is also exciting." - Michael, NM USA

"What a wonderful site. Truly this site is for the artist! It is so wonderful to see an arts site so devoted to class. Definitely a bookmark!" - Julie, CO USA

Today, we try our best to provide our artists with quick responses, up-to-date information and growing benefits. We remain a grassroots service and as such, rely on a limited number of volunteers to help maintain the site. We encourage our visitors to participate with ideas, comments, and information about resources to enhance Artwell.com. Thank you for stopping by.