Ashvegas teamed up with RX Prints in Asheville to launch official Ashvegas T-shirts, and here’s the next step: regularly featuring the work of Asheville artists on limited-run shirts.
Timm Watrous, left, and Jacob Ballard of RX Prints in Asheville. They’re wearing an zombie T-shirt designed by local artist Darcy Wade.
RX Prints is the work of my friend and entrepreneur Jacob Ballard, who is a web designer and an idea guy with unstoppable energy. He’s already carved a nice niche with website and merchandise design for athletes, including Crossfit athletes. Ballard has hired graphic designer Timm Watrous as his partner in the business. Watrous has extensive experience as a graphic designer and with printing and handling merchandise.
RX Prints and Ashvegas plan to feature the work of local artists on limited-run T-shirts. We’re working off a plan to feature a new artist every month. We’re working out details to have artists submit designs, and we’ll let readers vote on a design or two as well. Right now, we’re taking it one step at a time.
Our first artist is Darcy Wade, who moved to Asheville from Boone less than a year ago. At Appalachian State University, Wade said she essentially designed her own major to work with abused children through art in a creative therapy. In Asheville, she volunteers with Open Hearts, where she uses art to connect with special needs adults.
“Art has always been a way for me to connect with people. Art has always been a part of my life, and it’s allowed me to give back to my community,” Wade says.
Wade works with small businesses helping to design logos and fliers (she designed the new Foggy Mountain Brewpub logo). She’s worked with musicians, and also does live painting at shows (she was at a show in Boone this past weekend.) She does it all while continuing to work on her own art. She says she’s currently embracing the idea of “telling one big story with my art, or having it communicate one story.”
Wade designed a fun zombie T-shirt for October to memorialize Asheville’s love of zombie walking and floating and such. I’ll be posting details soon about how to order. (For now, if you want a shirt, email me and we’ll get it out to you.)
2 Comments
Great idea. I could see this doing well in an Etsy shop.
Great idea!