How The Holy Art And Streeters Gallery Are Changing The Art World

The traditional gallery model has worked the same way for decades. A small number of artists get representation. A small number of collectors get access. Everyone else is left out. The Holy Art and Streeters Gallery are part of a growing movement to change that.

Here is how these two galleries are reshaping the way emerging artists exhibit, sell and build their careers.

The problem with the traditional gallery model

For most of the 20th and 21st century, the path into a gallery has been narrow. You study art at a recognised institution. You build connections through internships and assistant roles. You get noticed by a gallerist who decides to represent you. You wait for a solo show. You hope collectors buy.

This model works for a tiny fraction of artists. For the rest, the gallery world is a closed door. No connections means no representation. No representation means no exhibitions. No exhibitions means no career.

The result is an industry that favours privilege over talent. Artists with wealthy families, prestigious degrees and the right social circles get shown. Artists without those advantages, no matter how strong their work, remain invisible.

What The Holy Art built

The Holy Art was founded in November 2020 by Evelyn Tsekoura with a different approach. Instead of representing a handful of artists, the gallery would run open calls accessible to everyone. Selection would be based on the work, not the CV. And the gallery would operate internationally from day one.

In six years, The Holy Art has grown into one of the largest contemporary art galleries for emerging artists in the world.

The numbers: over 25,000 artists exhibited, nine cities across three continents (London, New York, Tokyo, Paris, Milan, Athens, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Brighton), over 400 exhibitions produced, a community of more than 240,000 collectors, curators and art enthusiasts, and both physical and digital exhibition formats available.

Those numbers represent 25,000 artists who got a wall. Many of them for the first time. Many of them from backgrounds the traditional art world ignores.

What Streeters Gallery adds

In 2025, the team behind The Holy Art launched Streeters Gallery as a sister gallery with a tighter focus. Weekend group shows in London, Paris and New York. Friday opening night, Saturday and Sunday open to the public.

Streeters was built for artists who want a focused, intimate exhibition experience at an accessible price point. The same collector network as The Holy Art, the same audience, the same team. But in a format that feels more like an event than a traditional exhibition.

Streeters also introduced new formats including a Times Square big screen showcase and London billboard displays in Notting Hill and Kings Cross.

The two galleries together cover every scale of exhibition. Want international exposure across nine cities? The Holy Art. Want a weekend show in London, Paris or New York? Streeters. Want your art on a screen in Times Square or on a billboard in London? Streeters has that too.

What makes this model different

Several things set The Holy Art and Streeters apart from both traditional galleries and other open call platforms.

Zero commission on sales

Most commercial galleries take 40 to 60 percent commission on every sale. The Holy Art and Streeters take zero. If a collector buys your work for £500, you receive £500. The gallery connects you with the buyer. The money is yours.

This alone makes the model fundamentally different. The gallery makes its revenue from exhibition fees, not from taking a cut of artists' sales. That means the gallery's incentive is to put on great shows that attract great artists, not to mark up prices and squeeze margins.

Genuine curation

Every submission is reviewed by the curatorial team. Not every artist who applies is accepted. The selection is based on the quality and authenticity of the work. This is what separates both galleries from vanity platforms that accept everyone who pays.

The standard of curation is visible in the exhibitions themselves. Opening nights are well attended. Collectors return because they trust what they will see. Artists apply because they see the quality of past shows.

Established audience

Building an audience is one of the hardest things for any gallery to do. It takes years of consistent, quality exhibitions to earn the trust of collectors and art enthusiasts.

The Holy Art has built a community of over 240,000 across six years and nine cities. That audience includes active collectors, curators, art advisors and enthusiasts who engage with the gallery's exhibitions throughout the year.

When an artist exhibits with The Holy Art or Streeters, they are not showing to an empty room. They are showing to an audience that already exists, already trusts the gallery and is actively looking for new work to discover.

Accessibility

No degree required. No prior exhibition history needed. No connections necessary. The only requirement is strong work.

This policy has opened the door for thousands of artists who would never have had the chance to exhibit in a traditional gallery. Self taught artists, career changers, artists from countries with limited gallery infrastructure, artists who discovered their practice later in life.

The traditional gallery model decides who is worthy before looking at the work. The Holy Art and Streeters look at the work first and let it speak for itself.

The bigger picture

The Holy Art and Streeters Gallery are part of a larger shift in the art industry. Open call galleries, artist led spaces and digital platforms are democratising access to exhibition opportunities worldwide.

The gatekeeping that defined the gallery world for decades is being challenged by organisations that believe talent should matter more than connections. That access should be determined by the quality of the work, not the prestige of the artist's degree.

With over 25,000 artists exhibited across nine cities, The Holy Art has proven that this model works at scale. With Streeters Gallery bringing the same approach to focused weekend shows and innovative formats like Times Square and London billboards, the network continues to grow.

The art world is changing. And it is changing because galleries like these are giving artists the platform the traditional system refused to provide.

Apply now

The Holy Art: International exhibitions across nine cities. Free to submit. All mediums. Over 25,000 artists exhibited.

Streeters Gallery: Weekend shows in London, Paris and New York. Billboard and Times Square showcases. All mediums. No experience needed.

Same team. Same network. Same mission. More walls for more artists.