Podcast: MINT earns W.A.G.E. certification

Since 2006, MINT has provided a (sometimes roving) space where Atlanta’s young artists and creative communities can show their work. Over the years, MINT, now located at 92 Peachtree Street S.W., has exhibited contemporary and experimental works by more than 1,000 artists. In November, the organization announced that it has become W.A.G.E. certified — that’s an anagram for Working Artists and the Greater Economy.

W.A.G.E. is a New York-based organization focused on regulating payments and maintaining sustainable relationships between artists and the institutions who contract their work, regardless of sales. To see this through, MINT partnered with the City of Atlanta and an anonymous donor to raise $10,000 to fun W.A.G.E. efforts. MINT’s certification is retroactively effective as of July 1, 2018.

Being included on the W.A.G.E roster places MINT on a short list of high-profile galleries, museums, and arts organizations such as The Art Institute of Chicago, The Guggenheim, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and MOMA. MINT is also the first W.A.G.E.-certified organization in the state of Georgia, which, according to the National Assembly of Arts Agencies, ranks 49th lowest per capita arts funding in the U.S.

To talk more about what becoming W.A.G.E. certified means, MINT’s Executive Director Cory Klose paid a visit to CL’s Short Notice studio.

On Sat., Dec. 8, MINT hosts an opening reception for Small Enough To Hold, an exhibition featuring works by Leap Year artist Crystal Desai (on view through Jan. 12). Free. from 7-10 p.m. 92 Peachtree Street S.W.

Music for this podcast is provided by Delorean Gray.