The Monique Legault Studio in Sudbury Ontario has been offering fine art for over 20 years, and with help of a Digital Transformation Grant, is taking art online. All types of small businesses have been hit hard by the pandemic lockdowns, but artist studios and galleries are in a worse spot than most. A business that offers a completely discretionary product based on personal taste and individual interactions, artist studios offer an excellent example of what can happen when small businesses get on Digital Main Street.
“After 20 years as a brick-and-mortar business, 2020 was the biggest challenge I’ve had to face,” said artist and owner Monique Legault. “Transforming my business into an online click-and-brick business would have been impossible without my Digital Transformation grant from Digital Main Street.”
With a very visual product, Monique had already developed a refined and appealing website. With her grant in-hand, she now turned to finding online sales partners to display her paintings, upping her social and digital advertising investment, improving her images and videos and augmenting her website with e-commerce. Purchasing the latest tablet to help manage all that was also an important new tool in her online tool box.
“I consider myself very lucky to have received this helpful push into the online age. It’s a learning experience, but not one I could have done alone. It’s been amazing so far, and I can’t wait to see the results.”
The Digital Main Street program has been further extended through funding from FedDev Ontario and the Ontario Ministry for Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade (MEDJCT). The new round of funding includes $42.5 million from the Government of Canada’s Regional Relief and Recovery Fund, a national recovery initiative delivered by Canada’s regional development agencies. With $7.45 million from Ontario, this combined federal and provincial project will strengthen Ontario’s economic capacity for innovation, entrepreneurship and collaboration, and will promote the development of a strong and diversified Ontario economy. For more information, please visit digitalmainstreet.ca/ontariogrants
