For the first time, an international collective of thousands of artists from across the world are crossing cultural and political and geographical distances to produce . . . sneakers?

“BUCKETFEET LAUNCHED IN 2011 after a chance meeting in Argentina between two strangers – one an artist and one who was backpacking around the world. A pair of hand-drawn shoes ended up inspiring thousands of conversations with amazing people on six continents, and showed us the power of art to bring people together. Based in Chicago, BucketFeet is on a mission to connect people through art by tapping into the creativity and diversity of the world.” -from Our Story – Bucketfeet

Any artist can participate by sending in their designs for consideration. Even if you’re not artistic, you can get involved by buying and showing off their products. Thousands of artists are responsible for the designs Bucketfeet make, and when you buy something, you are not only wearing art that none of your friends has, you will also get to hear the artist’s original story. Don’t need shoes? That’s okay. You can also buy prints of the original artworks on the website.

And the best news for the artists is that the company pays for the art up front AND the artist receives royalties from the shoes they sell.

4,000 artists. 60 countries. Thousands of happy feet!

All photos property of Bucketfeet.