It's been a rocky road to bankruptcy and back for Gen Art, the formerly NYC-based non-profit commited to discovering and supporting emerging talent in film, fashion, art and music, but now, the organization is poised for a comeback under new ownership in LA.
Acquired in December by Sandow Media, Gen Art will operate going forward from the West Coast, with founder Ian Gerard acting as a consultant, but plans to hold its biggest events -- the 16th annual film festival in June and Fresh Faces in Fashion competition and runway show in September -- here in its New York City home.
Gen Art has helped launch the careers of Rodarte, Rebecca Taylor, Zac Posen, and more, so it's hard not to root for the organization, despite the claims by several fledgling designers that Gen Art actually owed them money after it filed for bankruptcy. To Gen Art's credit, one designer passed along e-mails Gerard himself had written over the course of more than a month last fall reaching out to the designers that were still owed money to try and settle the debts.
The West Coast move seems promising at face value, as does the new partnership with Sandlow, though considering the organization's turbulent financial history, we'd imagine many newcomers are playing wait-and-see before getting too thrilled about the new venture.
