PHILADELPHIA - World-renowned craft artist Gary Rosenthal launched the Art as a Catalyst Retailer Network, a nationwide network of craft gallery retailers dedicated to supporting community-based programs, today in Philadelphia.

The Retailer Network brings together retailers from across the country to help raise funds for nonprofit organizations. Retailers will carry the unique Art as a Catalyst product line, and a portion of the proceeds will be donated to nonprofit organizations that collaborate with the Art as a Catalyst program to develop the products.

The Retailer Network was announced at the Philadelphia Convention Center during a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Philadelphia Buyers Market of American Craft. Member families from the Autism Society of America helped launch the new program before an audience of more than 2,000 American craft retailers.

"We encourage craft galleries across the country to join the Art as a Catalyst Retailer Network and become part of this social venture program designed to use business as the basis for good works and good works as the basis for improving business," Rosenthal said. "This initiative provides customers, sales staff, and store owners with the opportunity to be socially responsible, and by purchasing and selling Art as a Catalyst products, they help support the nonprofit community and create jobs."

The Retailer Network provides members with national and local recognition, marketing support, and sales assistance . Retailer Network members will also be able to nominate nonprofits in their local communities for grants. Consumers will be able to identify member stores by the Art as a Catalyst Retail Network window decal. Additionally, participating retailers will be featured in ads in craft magazines and listed on the Art as a Catalyst Web site (www.artasacatalyst.org).

"The Art as a Catalyst Retailer Network is an excellent way for craft galleries to get involved with philanthropy," said Wendy Rosen, publisher of AmericanStyle magazine, whose company, The Rosen Group, produces the Philadelphia Buyers Market of American Craft.

The Retailer Network developed from the Art as a Catalyst program, which Rosenthal created in 2003 to help nonprofit organizations develop community-based cause-related marketing programs. The Gary Rosenthal Collection Foundation, funded by sales of items created by the Art as a Catalyst program, donated more than $70,000 in cash grants and made substantial in-kind contributions to nonprofits last year.

As part of the Art as a Catalyst program, Autism Society of America (ASA) member families from the Philadelphia area made a colorful glass mosaic, which will be sent to Rosenthal's studio in Kensington, Maryland, fused, and crafted into jewelry, bookmarks, money clips, and other pieces of art. Each piece costs $20, and a portion of sales benefits ASA and the autism community.

For more information about the Art as a Catalyst Retailer Network, call 1-800-962-1545 or visit the Art as a Catalyst Web site at www.artasacatalyst.org.

About The Gary Rosenthal Collection and Art as a Catalyst

The Gary Rosenthal Collection has been a leader in the American craft movement for nearly 30 years. Combining copper, brass, and steel with brilliant fused glass, the collection has a contemporary style rooted in tradition. Pieces of the collection have been presented to American presidents and displayed in fine galleries and museums throughout the world.

The Art as a Catalyst program practices a distinctive brand of social entrepreneurship designed, funded, and implemented by The Gary Rosenthal Collection. Through the sale of a unique product line of gifts and awards, Art as a Catalyst generates funds for arts enrichment and education programs.

Gary Rosenthal Collection, The

Gary Rosenthal Collection, The

The Gary Rosenthal's Collection (www.collectgaryrosenthal.com) has been a leader in the American craft movement for nearly 30 years. Combining copper, brass and steel with brilliant fused glass, the collection has a contemporary style rooted in tradition. Pieces from the Collection have been presented to American presidents and are displayed in fine galleries and museums throughout the world. Rosenthal spearheads several socially responsible programs, including The Glass Ribbon Project, Art as a Catalyst and The Hiddur Mitzvah Project, all which practice a distinctive brand of social entrepreneurship designed, funded and implemented by The Gary Rosenthal Collection. Through the sale of a unique line of gifts and awards, Rosenthal generates funds for arts enrichment, education and social service programs.

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