Zalika Sterling is a dynamic creative leader and co-founder of The Culture Candy, a NYC-based art organization committed to amplifying the voices of underrepresented artists. As a mother, artist, and advocate for diversity, Zalika has dedicated her career to creating inclusive spaces where minority, women, LGBTQ+, and other underrepresented groups can showcase their work, connect with their communities, and access opportunities for growth. Her passion for culture and community development drives the organization’s mission to promote diversity, equity, and representation in the arts.
Under Zalika’s leadership, The Culture Candy hosts pop-up events, gallery exhibitions, and public curations, empowering emerging creatives to embrace their uniqueness and push artistic boundaries. The organization also offers vital resources such as community programs, coaching, and portfolio reviews to support the development of artistic talent. Zalika’s vision is to create a future where art fosters unity, enriches the cultural landscape, and inspires meaningful conversations.
Zalika’s work with The Culture Candy is helping to spark positive change in the art world, making space for diverse voices to thrive.
About The Culture Candy
The Culture Candy is a NYC based arts organization that celebrates urban New York City Culture, the arts, and urban & minority artists by providing upcoming artists with showcase opportunities. Founded by Ashley Miah and Zalika Zeni two female artists of color seeking opportunities in the New York City art world, The Culture Candy is dedicated to encouraging young minority creatives to pursue their artistic passions through their involvement in community programs, the founding of NYC Art Week and gallery pop-ups throughout NYC.
What unique strategies set your business apart from the competition, and how have they contributed to your success?
The Culture Candy’s marketing and growth strategies focus on disrupting the art industry by demanding space for underrepresented artists to be seen and provided equal opportunity to majority artists in the higher art world. We challenge the unspoken classism in access to artist etiquette and selective opportunity with community building and accessible development to artists of all backgrounds. We challenge the traditional higher gallery scene with non-traditional showcase opportunities with higher visibility such as curating at Chelsea Market. We take risks and make a splash in a way that is authentic to our mission and culture, which helps set us a part from the competition and drives our authenticity within our industry.
What challenges do you anticipate facing in 2024? How do you plan on meeting those challenges?
We are always facing challenges as a new business, but find creative ways to tackle them head-on and adapt. In 2024 and 2025, we anticipate an increase in competition as we observe concepts we’ve brought to the scene become adapted by other organizations. With that in mind we are always planning ahead and strategizing ways to provide new initiatives and experiences that keep us a step ahead in our field.
Tell us a little about your approach to marketing.
Our approach to marketing is staying authentic in communicating from our brand. The consistency of our colors, our tone, and our disruption to the art scene has been very successful for us. We always find creative ways to communicate to both the higher art scene and underground art-goers, bridging the gap in access to opportunity.
Which marketing channels are you using currently? Where are you seeing most success and how has this evolved over time?
As a young company, we’ve found most of our success through social media and word of mouth marketing. The traditional in-person networking, flyer distribution, post cards, product marketing, email marketing and social media ad campaigns has really helped us launch something purposeful. Overtime, our approach has evolved from word of mouth to social media ads in order to reach new audiences and extend community building.
How much or how little are you using A.I. or automation in your marketing efforts?
Text and design A.I. has been a useful tool in keeping up with the fast-past changes in culture. We’re able to utilize A.I. as a tool to maximize our efforts in marketing all of our initiatives.
What is something you’ve learned in your career that you would like to share with young SMB marketers entering the industry?
Branding is a clear method of communication to your audience or customers, even if you do not have any yet. Creating a strong brand, will attract those who emotionally connect to your story, product and mission. The more consistent and clear your brand is, the easier it is to communicate directly to your customers.
