Herschel: Introducing the Bank of Creativity

Creativity and finance are often at odds. It’s hard for even the most established artists and creators to receive funding from traditional banks because it’s hard to put a guaranteed ROI behind creative work. For young creative entrepreneurs, it's nearly impossible. Design-driven global lifestyle brand, Herschel Supply Co., wants to change that. The Herschel Supply Bank of Creativity is a space where established New York artists provide emerging creative entrepreneurs with mentorship and tools to help launch their careers. Rather than bank advisors dolling out generic financial advice, Herschel partnered with established creatives Olivia Rose (interdisciplinary artist and founder of Original Rose, a plant design studio), Danny Cole (interdisciplinary artist and founder of Creature World) and Sophia Wilson (photographer) to provide personalised mentorship to 18 up-and-coming creators with the goal of helping them elevate their creative careers. Rather than loans, Herschel equipped the creators with tools of their trade that the applicants pinpointed as being critical to their career growth. For the vast majority of the creators, Herschel’s support with art materials, camera equipment and studio space means less time working additional jobs to fund supplies for their craft, and more time dedicated to their creative pursuits. Located in the former Brooklyn Bank in Brooklyn, New York, the activation took place over two days. Each advisor-creator session was approximately one hour long, and concluded with a grand reveal of their equipment and supplies in the bank vault.