I recently chatted with the founder of GFTD ORG, the creative community shaking things up. Artur Novo dished on how GFTD came to be, how its pandemic shift took it global, the exciting projects on the horizon, and what he’s planning for 2021. The result has been truly inspiring.
What does it mean to be GFTD?
GFTD is an ever-evolving, growing artist community founded in NYC by Artur Novo, and fueled by creativity and talent. The group meets weekly to hang out, share their insights, and help each other grow in their crafts. Artur has single-handedly curated an extensive a roster of talent including painters, illustrators, actors, dancers, photographers, musicians, designers, ceramic artists, graffiti artists and more. He’s working tirelessly behind the scenes to connect and foster exciting new collaborations, secure media placement, and host events.
How did GFTD come to be?
“Getting like minded and forward thinking people in the same room together and just seeing what happens, how we can create, and how we can collaborate: that was kind of the synthesis for starting this whole thing.”
The core value of GFTD has always been bringing people together. Artur shared his inspiration behind forming the group: “I used to play in a band and show nights were always my favorite night just because all of our friends got a chance to come and hang out and we all in our separate kind of pockets had really interesting and wildly creative friends, like photographers, fashion designers, models, artists,..this and that.. that kind of notion of bringing people together.”
How do you recruit talent? How long does your process take?
“I don’t usually talk about it just because it’s something I want to put into my life and you know if you talk a big game you better back it up. That means staying up late some nights. I spend so much time on Instagram recruiting people and building genuine connections. The email list has grown a lot and there’s a lot of people to tap into. All the effort is starting to pay off.”
Much of GFTD's members are scouted through Instagram. “Numbers don’t matter so much but is their feed consistent enough that it looks like they’re doing something interesting? That takes a lot of time.”
Which are your favorite apps to connect with creatives on?
“Instagram and clubhouse will be the wheel house where I’ll put the energy into. I like the apps where I can actually connect with people, talk to them and message them. Clubhouse and Insta seem to be the best for that. I’m trying to figure out the discord server. I’m kind of excited to get that going a little.”
This year’s pandemic took GFTD Org international.
GFTD ORG started as an informal Monday night gathering in the private space at the back of a bar in Bowery, NYC in November of 2018. The community has been growing steadily since, despite the setbacks covid-19 brought.
“2020 I came back all fired up, so the first week of January there were over 30 people that showed up. It was a really great way to start the year. We had a studio session in February it went really well and felt really good. And then Covid happened and it all went to sh*t!”
“The first week when covid hit and everything shut down that was definitely a very depressing moment. There was an element of me that was like: is GFTD over? Was all that for naught?”, but GFTD bounced back, even stronger than before, transitioning into a weekly zoom chat in place of the in person meetings. “I always knew there was going to be an online portion anyway so it just happened sooner than I expected. It’s not just a NY central thing anymore. We’ve got people from Germany, Australia, some Canadian people. That was something nice that has happened because of covid. Like a silver lining, if you will.”
What does the GFTD future look like?
“I’ve taken things virtual during the pandemic but I’m ready to hit the ground running once we can all be back in a physical space again.” Brand deals, some special events, maybe a fashion show and live art are also on the horizon for this driven community. “Certain pieces of the puzzle are coming together. Last February’s studio session was a huge success and spots filled up within 24 hours. It gave members an opportunity to work together and create together. The overwhelming response reinforced the idea that the GFTD community loves coming together in a shared space.” Artur adds that he’s working on plans to continue with the online meetings even as in-person ones resume. He’s also looking to secure some partnerships with venues and brands.
“I like helping people tell their stories. I like seeing people be in the media that I had a hand in. I really do enjoy it. I had my time with the band. We were in magazines and blogs so it’s like ‘cool, been there’, but I actually legitimately like helping others get that as well. I would really like to have a press portion of GFTD. I’ve gotten a couple of people into magazines now.”
Is a GTFD Org agency on the horizon?
“GFTD Org Agency, That’s the kind of thing that sits in eye-view of my desk to send me a reminder. That is part of the long time strategy of it all. I’d like to figure out some kind of version. It’s heavily on my mind. We’ll see what happens with this.”
Artur has already amassed a huge pool of creatives, but his foremost goal is to help his friends succeed.
“In a sense it’s payment enough to know that people are actually getting value out of this. I just want it to get bigger and better, while also not being so diluted.”
“To be able to bounce ideas off each other and ask questions to people who have been in similar situations, that’s amazing to me” a lot of people connecting behind the scenes – I said that in a sense is payment enough. To be able to see that, maybe there’s a little ego in there as well, I know I didn't directly cause that, but indirectly through GFTD by bringing theses people together something came from nothing. That’s part of the magic that I get out of this as well.”
