Why haven’t art tools evolved in decades?

The stretcher canvas frame—arguably one of the most essential tools in painting—has remained fundamentally unchanged for centuries.

Since the early development of oil painting on canvas in the 15th century, artists have relied on a wooden stretcher frame to tension and support the canvas surface. Over time, the system was refined in terms of joinery, tensioning keys, and standard sizing, but the core principle has stayed exactly the same: a fixed wooden structure that holds fabric under tension.

Today, whether in traditional studios or contemporary art practices, the same logic still applies. A rectangular wooden frame, cross bracing for stability, and mechanical tensioning through wedges or keys. Materials may vary slightly—pine, hardwoods, engineered wood—but the system itself has barely evolved in its essence.

This raises an important question: why has one of the most fundamental tools in art remained almost untouched since the 15th century?

At Formaet®, we started from this question.

We are building the first meaningful evolution of the stretcher canvas system in centuries: a patented modular system designed specifically for artists’ real creative workflows. Not an iteration of the old model, but a complete rethinking of how canvas structures can adapt, expand, and evolve over time.

Our system replaces rigidity with modularity. Fixed dimensions with scalability. Waste with circular design.

Made from ocean-bound recycled plastic, Formaet® is designed to respond to the needs of contemporary artists: flexibility, sustainability, and creative freedom without constraints.

This is not just a product innovation. It is a shift in how we understand the infrastructure of art itself.

Formaet® Selected for the Premi Impulsa Cultura 2026 by Fundació Catalunya Cultura

Recognizing innovative cultural projects driving sustainability, creativity, and impact in Catalonia’s creative industries.

We are proud to announce that Formaet® has been selected for the Programa IMPULSA CULTURA 2026 by Fundació Catalunya Cultura and is a finalist for the Premi IMPULSA CULTURA.

This recognition is especially meaningful for us, as it comes from one of the most relevant initiatives supporting cultural and creative innovation in Catalonia. The Impulsa Cultura program identifies and accompanies projects that are not only artistically relevant, but also have the potential to generate real impact through innovation, sustainability, and long-term vision.

Being part of this program means entering a space where culture, entrepreneurship, and social impact meet. It is a platform that connects emerging projects with mentors, experts, and institutions that are actively shaping the future of the cultural and creative industries.

For Formaet®, this milestone represents another step forward in a journey that began with a simple but ambitious question: how can we rethink one of the most traditional tools in art and turn it into something more adaptable, sustainable, and aligned with the needs of contemporary creators?

From that question, we developed Formaet®—a patented modular stretcher frame system made from ocean-bound recycled plastic. A system designed to replace rigidity with flexibility, linear production with circular design, and fixed structures with expandable creative possibilities.

Our goal is not only to innovate in materials or design, but to rethink the infrastructure behind artistic creation itself. To build tools that respond to how artists actually work today, while reducing environmental impact and opening new possibilities for expression.

Being selected for Impulsa Cultura is both an acknowledgment of our vision and a reminder of the responsibility we carry: to continue developing solutions that sit at the intersection of art, design, and sustainability.

We are deeply grateful to Fundació Catalunya Cultura for supporting projects that aim to transform the cultural sector from within, and for believing in the potential of new systems that challenge the status quo.

This is just the beginning of a much longer journey.