Pay What You Can

Why Create a Pay-What-You-Can Website?

I want to have a conversation about perceived value. I could go on at length about the time it took me to learn my craft, the life experience that honed my perspective and the hours I labor to make a thing. To most people, what I create is just a piece of paper with a medium few know anything about. They rarely consider that printmaking brought humanity out of the dark ages, ushered in the Age of Enlightenment, has been a megaphone for social change movements, and was the foundation for the mass-communications resulting in the internet. To most people, it’s just a piece of paper, but to me, it’s a conversation about what it means to be human.

I don’t want to have repeated conversations about sales, holidays, and the same capitalist gimmicks to convince you to buy my work. I don’t want to engage in the marketing strategies often employed to compel participation. I want to build a relationship that fosters a sense of belonging. I want to create a community that supports fellow artists and tells compelling human stories. Every piece you purchase through the print shop supports Lenspeace to change the conversation. The value of the tangible artifact you receive is up to your perspective. What is it worth to you?

I want you to pay what you can, because the truth is, I do what I do because I love it, and I want anyone who connects with it to have it. I don’t pretend to know where anyone is at in life. I have known poverty and financial comfort, they each change our perspective of the world. They change our sense of value and self-worth. Everyone who connects with my work is worthy of it. I want to make this an equitable exchange and meet everyone where they are at to grow into who we can become together.

If you need a target to aim for we've set the pricing to auto-fill to let you know what it's usually worth to us. If you know what an artist is worth, and want to support lenspeace in creating more positive impact, put that in the cart, and we’ll invest the contribution into our impact programs. If you can barely make ends meet right now, but something we’ve created speaks to you, offer up what you have and pay shipping, just promise you'll stay inspired. Together, we can support a culture of giving, shared power, mutual support, and social change.

Filled with so much lenspeace love,
Lennie Gray Mowris