ARTISTS
Uniquely, we identify incredible artists, designers and creative businesses. We are always seeking important and thought provoking visual art.
COMMUNITY
Real relationships matter because networks and referrals are most often personal connections. Our artists and collaborators value strong reciprocal relationships.
COLLABORATION
Collaborations are everything. Uniting with another force on a project always benefits both parties. We love working with galleries, museums and other organizations.
our mission
Build an empowered community. Drive a curious audience & champion a new approach to the future of art.
Juniper Rag is an organization for artists, collectors and art enthusiasts. We are committed to elevating and promoting artists and creative businesses to enhance and capitalize efforts to grow through a nurturing community. Juniper Rag is passionate about improving the lives of others through cultural enrichment. We support artist risk-taking, experimentation and feature the most innovative and ambitious visual artists. Our rich community welcomes diversity and inclusion of all visual artists and appreciate work from traditional to avant-garde. We welcome guest curators and collectors for collaboration, with a united effort to move the creative economy forward all around the world.
Comtemporary artists at the core of creativity and the future of visual art.
Relationships are important to us and we are invested in every artist we engage with. We also encourage each cohort of artists in exhibitions to meet and network with others in their group, enriching their own network as well as the Juniper Rag community as a whole. We enable artists by fostering relationships and sharing opportunities through our contacts.
We offer creative services for artists, art organizations and non-profits. Ambitious emerging artists and mid-level artists can look to Juniper Rag for inspired blog posts, social media support, live and virtual exhibitions, gallery collaborations, guest curators and learning how to step outside of your normal modus operandi.
our story
Founded in 2021 by Payal Thiffault and Michelle May, we use our 40+ years of combined skills to elevate artists is driven in our ability to connect people, our true superpower.
We emerged from the printing industry. We were first fine artists, then designers. We became trend forecasters and buyers, marketers and project managers. We helped grow one of the top luxury stationery brands in the US, with brick and mortar and three e-comm companies, simultaneously. We managed collaborations with Condé Nast/BRIDES, Neiman Marcus, GILT Group and our designs were sent out by hundreds of crazy celebrities, royalty and rock and roll icons. The knowledge we have for elevating brands and luxury items is second nature to us, so it was only logical that we try to help artists, like ourselves find pathways to connect with collectors and support their art careers.
Art lovers and artists can learn through artists features written by us and guest writers, print and digital marketing campaigns organized and planned annually, curated exhibitions virtual and in-person, our guest jury shows with other galleries and art orgs and many other collaborative projects that we present annually, partnering with some of the most prestigous organizations in the arts, like Mechanics Hall Worcester, Art Newport, New Art Center, ARCK Boston, Show Up! Boston, and more. Juniper Rag also focuses on new and exciting creative technology that is evolving every day.
Juniper Rag has built a strong reputation in presenting high-caliber art in all media by some of the region’s best emerging and mid-career artists, and we have juried, co-curated and curated some of the highest attending shows for our partners and are invited back yearly. Our commitment to local art in Massachusetts and New England means that all Juniper Rag artists will have a new audience here among some of the highest spending collectors in the country.
We have had some wonderful collaborations with CUSP Gallery Provincetown/Newport, New Art Center in Newton, ARCK in Boston, Mechanics Hall in Worcester, Fountain Street Gallery in SoWA, The White Room, and Worcester Center for Crafts, and most recently, the Mayor’s Office of Art and Culture in Boston for The Fay Chandler Emerging Artists exhibition and more. We attended in Basel Miami, Scope and Untitled as well as Ignite Broward in Fort Lauderdale, CODAMADE Summit at Mad Arts in Dania Beach, Florida. Looking to the future, we research and work to gain insight into public art impacts and the landscape of digital art.
Juniper Rag hosts 10-12 virtual and live exhibitions a year, curate for galleries partners, promote thousands of artists and cultural organizations we work with.
vision
Michelle May and Payal Thiffault are dynamic thought leaders, artists, and art advocates. They are the visionaries behind Juniper Rag, a platform dedicated to disrupting traditional ways of view art and creating a stage for traditional, socially conscious and experimental artists. Known for their bold approach to art and advocacy, Juniper Rag challenges artists to think beyond the canvas, embracing new mediums and technologies that provoke dialogue and foster societal change to empower artists and create more opportunities to boost the creative economy as a whole. We strive to create relationships that impact artists, cities and communities that need art in their lives. We collaborate with non-profits and arts organizations to enhance spaces, increase traffic and reach.
The power of marketing in the art world cannot be overstated, particularly in an era where visibility is everything. Effective marketing doesn’t just showcase art, it elevates an artist’s voice, making their work accessible to a global audience. It creates bridges between the artist and those who may never step foot in a gallery. For platforms like Juniper Rag, marketing is not just about selling art—it’s about positioning art as a tool for influence and empowerment.
We envision a global community of artists of all disciplines, identities, and backgrounds, elevated in stature and amplified for their creativity, and valued for their unique creative, social, and economic contributions. Creating access to opportunities and change-makers, as well as resources for creatives and creative businesses to thrive and shine, we believe that our unique platform drives positive change through the power of community. Simultaneously, elevating artists with resources and constructive feedback, strengthening their capacity for growth while transforming these communities of like-minded creatives as we build a dynamic and receptive audience.
Build an empowered community. Drive a curious audience and champion a new approach to the future of art.
manifesto
All art and creativity matter in all cultures. Paying attention to these facets of our community leads to a positive sense of place. When a place is loved, we collectively become responsible for them. These are the places in which we live, work and play. By assumed responsibility of a loved space, we in turn show love to the people that inhabit these spaces, locally and globally.
Artists are the catalysts (aka bad asses) of our society that inspire, motivate, imagine and facilitate engagement and creative change that moves our society as a whole in a positive direction. Artists and creatives are the problem solvers and the key people invited to the table to “find a way”.
In most cultures that artists are revered, almost glorified as gifted ones that possess a special and unique talent. When you become closer to artists, you become closer to enriching your life with the gifts they bring, through visual art, music, dance, theater, creativity across disciplines. Collaborations with artists absolutely benefit and enrich our environments, from our homes, offices and public spaces.
Juniper Rag promotes and elevates the imagination and creativity of our community, and through our programming and messaging, we make original art attractive and accessible to a global audience of art lovers and those that never knew what they were missing. We celebrate the extraordinary impact that art has on our world.
Atelier ID Global is the marketing agency behind Juniper Rag.
With Juniper Rag magazine, we focus on elevating artists and creative businesses, because we are artists and we know the challenges. We bring over 40 years of combined industry experience.
Uniquely, we identify incredible artists, designers and creative businesses and share them with people that thrive on all of it. Oh, we are quality snobs that palpitate at the sight of interesting visual art. We love anything with an edge, that makes people stop and think. We are also artists, who have decades of design and marketing experience. Our digital agency is Atelier ID Global.
After over two decades of design and marketing success, we founded Atelier ID Global. We wanted to continue our magical creative partnership. In our past lives we designed some pretty snazzy work for a luxury brand stationery company that twice made Inc. magazine's 5000 List of Fastest Growing Private Companies in America. We have worked directly with editors of the finest magazines on product design and marketing campaigns.
Our past designs have also been featured on Brides Live Weddings, The Today Show and Good Morning America. Additionally, some pretty prestigious organizations and celebrities have enlisted our designs, like presidents and royalty, rock bands, movie stars, famous chefs and even muppet makers.
Locally and more recently, Atelier ID Global has designed the branding and websites for Juniper Rag, Kelley Square Lofts, Worcester Public Market, The Market Pantry, Starr Home Care, and Nivi / AskNivi in Nairobi and Delhi. We also handle social media, from cybersecurity to logistics, we deliver social growth strategies that drive and nurture leads for our clients.
Michelle May, proudly from Worcester/Falmouth, by way of UMASS Amherst, now residing in Paxton, MA.
Payal Thiffault, a Worcester Clarkie by way of Oman and Mumbai, now living in Easton, MA.
Roughan Interiors, Image by C. Bednar
Roughan Interiors
Roughan Interiors, Image © Jane Beiles
We believe at Juniper Rag, that to create a vibrant and authentic home environment, original artwork can bring your personality and story to your space.
Your home is where you live, may work, and will gather, again —made more vibrant with touches of handmade objects and pieces of art collected over time. Research shows that children that grow up learning about and making art have more appreciation for culture and creativity, growing into strong critical thinkers with a more connected feeling about community.
We know that art brings so much value to our lives — it generates an emotional response, sparks interesting conversations, and represents a memory. It may eventually serve as a smart investment or a treasured heirloom.
No matter what your style is — classic, farmhouse, whimsical, minimalist to maximalist, art transforms. We have launched our Art Market to increase placement of art into new homes and to help collectors—old and new discover new artists. If you have questions, need measurements or additional information, we are here.
Do you have a creative home? We would love to feature your style in Juniper Rag. Contact us if you would like to be featured or to learn more about the artwork in Juniper Rag. info@juniperrag.com
“We are artists ourselves, who worked together for decades in luxury paper. We founded Atelier ID Global to build and elevate brands and we do the same for artists through Juniper Rag.”
Co-Founders, Michelle May and Payal Thiffault
“The COVID-19 pandemic, in the meantime, showed us how swiftly new models for buying and selling art can prosper. This migration online can open pathways to new artists from more diverse backgrounds, bringing new perspectives from harder-to-reach locations. Such broadening of participation in the market for both artists and collectors is essential if the art world wishes to become more representative, impactful, and sustainable.”
FIND NEW COLLECTORS
Show your work with us in one of our exhibitions, our Art Market or promoted by our social media.
ARTIST OPPORTUNITIES
GET LISTED ON OUR ART MARKET
Show your work in our online gallery to expand your market footprint and sales potential.
EXHIBIT WITH US, LIVE SHOWS + VIRTUAL OPPORTUNITIES
We use our network and collaborations to benefit artists enabling them to reach new gallerists, collectors and markets.
ARTIST PROMOTION
Uniquely, we identify incredible artists, designers and creative businesses. We are always seeking important and thought- provoking visual art. You create great work, we share!
COMMUNITY
Real relationships matter because networks and referrals are most often personal connections. Our artists and collaborators value strong reciprocal relationships.
COLLABORATIONS
Collaborations are everything. Uniting with another force on a project always benefits both parties. We love working with galleries, museums and other organizations.
Juniper Rag Collaborations
Sharing content and leveraging our impact with social media elevates our collaboration with partners—galleries, local non-profits and municipal organizations that have similar missions. We drive traffic to our events and support the artists involved. We all know that art, community and culture can impact the world. We’d love to consider your organization for collaboration. There are many ways we can work together.
CURATION & JURYING
We are available to guest curate and/or jury exhibitions for galleries all around the world. We’d love to apply years of experience and support your organization. Contact us!
EXHIBITION MANAGEMENT
We have been curating luxury brands, hosting fundraisers, art auctions and exhibitions for over two decades. Juniper Rag has a record of lively, top-notch exhibitions that are highly organized and tightly managed to make your organization look stellar. We are detail oriented and know how to prepare, collect, curate and install artwork. Contact us if you’d like to collaborate.