Look­ing for a job is very com­pet­i­tive. If you are only apply­ing to jobs online you will encounter sub­stan­tial com­pe­ti­tion. At MediaJobs.com our objec­tive is to make it as easy as pos­si­ble to find a job at a great com­pa­ny and with the least amount of competition.

At MediaJobs.com we have estab­lished our mis­sion of Find­ing the Great Com­pa­nies First. In keep­ing with our mis­sion we have cre­at­ed this inter­view series with some of the newest star­tups in the New York City mar­ket area.   We encour­age you to learn about some of the newest com­pa­nies and think about what might be a good fit for you.

What is the name and loca­tion of your com­pa­ny and who are the founders? 

Art­Stager, New York, New York, Found­ed by Kip­ton Cronkite
ArtStager.com

How did the idea for your start-up come about?

The idea came about in 2010 when I leased my first gallery space on the ground floor of the Hyatt Andaz Hotel at 75 Wall Street. Dur­ing 2010 while in the space, the devel­op­er of the project began ask­ing me for art for their apart­ments. As a result, I began cre­at­ing val­ue by enrich­ing each prop­er­ty for sale with great art.

Of the key peo­ple involved what is everyone’s expe­ri­ence and background? 

I’m the face and cre­ative force of the com­pa­ny and proud to have over 10 years expe­ri­ence as an art advi­sor and col­lec­tor while also gain­ing valu­able insight over 10 years in finance (Cit­i­group and Bank of Amer­i­ca in New York). While at Bank of Amer­i­ca, I was the Direc­tor of Investor Rela­tions in the Alter­na­tive Invest­ment Divi­sion and worked close­ly with high net worth clients (many who had sig­nif­i­cant art port­fo­lios). In 2005, I real­ized there were very few places online peo­ple could go to dis­cov­er art so I cre­at­ed KiptonART.com. In 2013, I also co-found­ed an e‑commerce site for artists (at60inches.com) to give peo­ple an oppor­tu­ni­ty to buy art online.

How do you see your com­pa­ny cre­at­ing val­ue or dis­rupt­ing an exist­ing market? 

Art­Stager is one of the pre­em­i­nent art stag­ing groups in the U.S. We are dis­rupt­ing the cur­rent stag­ing mod­el in real estate by intro­duc­ing a curat­ed group of emerg­ing artists and installing in each prop­er­ty. I’m also a real estate agent so if peo­ple wish to list their prop­er­ty and also have me curate and stage all the art; I’m able to do this too. The goal is to make the prop­er­ty as attrac­tive as pos­si­ble to fetch a top price.

When was the busi­ness found­ed and how are you being funded?

Art­Stager was found­ed in 2015 and is self-funded.

What is the cur­rent size of your busi­ness, num­ber of employees? 

There are cur­rent­ly five con­sul­tants advis­ing the busi­ness. I’m the sta­bi­liz­ing force behind the company.

What is the prod­uct and or ser­vice you are providing?

Art­Stager enrich­es envi­ron­ments by show­cas­ing art­work in order to inspire invest­ments in art, design and real estate.

Explain how you are seek­ing entry into your marketplace. 

Art­Stager builds and main­tains rela­tion­ships with top real estate agents and new devel­op­ments in New York, Los Ange­les, Mia­mi and Welling­ton, Florida.

What seems to be the biggest strength of the team so far? 

The biggest strengths are the long-term rela­tion­ships with clients, artists and the busi­ness com­mu­ni­ty com­bined with the abil­i­ty to nur­ture media com­pa­nies and ser­vice top adver­tis­ers through brand inte­gra­tion of art.

What was your great­est “Ah-Ha” moment to date? 

In 2015 when a devel­op­er demand­ed I stage art for their prop­er­ty in order to help it sell more quick­ly. A few months after the stag­ing, the prop­er­ty sold for a record price. I thought, “I can do this and have a blast doing it!”

What was the fun­ni­est thing that has happened? 

The fun­ni­est thing so far was when I was de-installing art in a devel­op­ment and met a future client in the ele­va­tor of the build­ing. It turned out the client need­ed art and became one of our biggest clients to date.

If you can only do one thing in your indus­try what would that be?

If I could only do one thing, I would focus on art advi­so­ry. For­tu­nate­ly, I’m able to add to this exper­tise and stage art for peo­ple who are ner­vous about pick­ing art for their homes.