About WearTogether

WearTogether was founded by Kalene Rivers and Daniel Weise during the great Pandemic of 2020. Kalene and Dan are both artists and designers who have worked in the arts and design for over 20 years as collaborators, muralists, curators, gallery owners, teachers, magazine editors, large outdoor art event organizers, drawing club founders and more. When the pandemic hit they knew they wanted to bring artists together in some way. The "pause order" drastically affecting small businesses in their home town of Beacon, NY was really hard to watch unfold. At the same time opportunities for artists to meet up and show their work had vanished overnight. After the initial fear, anxiety and anger subsided, they saw an opportunity for artists and businesses to join forces and collaborate in new ways to help each other while inspiring their customers, collectors and community at the same time.

Kalene and Dan have always loved the medium of the T-shirt. It is an easy way to tell a story, start a conversation and showcase an idea. It represents a bit of the owners personality, interests, and likely where they are from or where they have been. This is the foundation for WearTogether. The idea was simple, develop a way for creating limited edition T-shirts designed by artists, inspired by small businesses. It had to be easy for their customers, friends, collectors and fans too purchase the shirts and without any upfront cost to the business or the artist. They decided on a pre-sale model where the art is created and the shirts go up for sale during a two week pre-order period. At the end of the pre-sale period what ever has been purchased goes to print. The profits are shared between both the artist and the business. This idea is possible through a partnership with The Brooklyn Press, a screen print shop based in Newburgh, New York. As all these elements came together WearTogether was born. The idea that through a simple T-shirt we can create a connection between artists, small businesses and their shared communities to create something great that benefits everyone! Viva la shirt!