Shop Art Theft: A site to support indie artists, not the retailers ripping them off.

After following the awful account of indie artist Tuesday Bassen and her legal struggles with Zara, which we shared a couple weeks back,  we reaffirm our ongoing, ten-year commitment to supporting small makers and original artists — especially when they’re being ripped off by big retailers.

(Sorry are we supposed to say allegedly ripped off? How about allegedly ripped off hashtag-eyeroll?)

Now there’s a website from one of the artists involved in the case that makes it even easier to get the real goods.

The new Shop Art Theft documents side-by-side photos of the merch sold at big retailers, alongside the original work of artists like Tuesday, and Shop Art Theft creator Adam J. Kurtz, plus Coucou Suzette, Sara M. Lyons, Ivonna Buenrostro, Abby Galloway, Gabriella Sanchez, and so many more. Click over and come to your own conclusions.

None of the original designs were licensed, which is just so lame considering how easy it would be for big retailers to actually contract with smaller artists and reap all of those benefits. Win-win, right? Not every retailer is perfect all the time, but we’ve loved seeing and supporting big retailer/small label collaborations when we find them, like J Crew and Mayhem, Land of Nod and Oh Joy, Target and Appaman.

As for the work on Shop Art Theft, the pins, patches and brooches of these talented artists are so wonderful, I know my kids would love a few of them for their backpacks for the back-to-school season. Some are definitely more adult than others (hi, naked pin-up girl pins from Cocou Suzette!), but I’ve put together some favorites here I think would be cute for kids and teens.

Love Patch, Cocou Suzette | Girls Pennant, Tuesday Bassen | Society of Awesome Patch, Strawberry Moth  | Planet Pins Big Bud Press| Ice Cream Pin, Yo Sick | Why Pin, Big Bud Press |Game Over Pin, These Are Things | Leather Jacket Pin, Bananna Bones | Whatever Forever Pin, Sara Lyons

Or, browse the site yourself. Just click the name of the artist under the photo of the item you like, and it will take you right to that maker’s own website or Etsy shop.

Kind of nice when shopping is your good deed for the day.

Visit Shop Art Theft to find lovely work from original illustrators and artists — and feel free to share to help get the message out.