This week the Business of Art Vault brings this question:

“How, as an artist, can I make my practice relevant to the way contemporary consumers choose to interact with their media?”

From this question I have decided to put together the online essentials for the visual artist.

#1 Create a Website for Yourself!

Why? Because this is going to be the easiest way to get your work out to the public. It is an easy way to show people your work, your artist statement and your artist resume. It is also easy for other people to share, link to, pin on Pinterest, post to social media sites, etc.

Blog vs Website? This is something to consider when starting your website. Do you want a blog, a website or both. I personal would choose both. Your website can be where you show galleries of your work, have your written documentation posted and your contact information. Your blog can be where you show your audience what you are up to, what you are making, how you are making it, the inspiration for your work, the shows you are in, the residencies you are attending … you get the picture.

How? Let’s assume you are like me and you know nothing about coding, website design, hosting and all that other good stuff that comes along with making a website. No problem! There are TONS of sites out there that make this stuff easy for you.

Here are some websites/blog sites that have great templates and will host your website taking all the hard steps out:

BLOG

-WordPress (here is a post about free WordPress templates that are awesome for artists)

-Blogger

-Tumblr (here is a post about the Top 10 Tumblr themes)

PORTFOLIO WEBSITES

-Other Peoples Pixels

-Indexhibit

-Carbonmade

-Krop

-Cargo Collective

#2 Use Social Media.

Why? Because it is a great way to keep people interested and aware of what you are up to. By using Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, etc. you can remind your audience that you are around, working hard and making amazing pieces.

What’s the Key? Post regularly (this goes for your blog too). You have to keep posting new content in order to give people a reason to come back. If there is never new information why would anyone want to follow you on Twitter or fan you on Facebook? So make sure that if you start to use Facebook or Twitter that you are updating regularily.

Important things to consider: how personal do you want to be? What is the “tone” of your online personality? What kind of content do you want to share? Will your audience want to know that you have kids running around the studio? Will they want to know where you went partying last night? Think about what you are going to share on these sites before your start posting. The issue with Facebook and Twitter is sometimes the lines between personal life and professional life become blurry and you don’t want to turn your audience off by over-sharing.

Here is a great post about Social Media Do’s and Don’ts.

Popular Social Media Sites include:

-Facebook

-Twitter

-Linkedin

-Pinterest

#3 Add Your Work to Other Online Websites.

Why? Because you want to be in as many places as possible. The more work you have online in different places the better. This is going to open doors and get your work into the eyes of new people.

What’s the Key? Having great images. These sites are about showcasing your work and without great images posting to these sites is going to be a waste of time. Take a look at our post about taking awesome pictures of your work.

Places to post your work include:

-Flickr

-DeviantART

-Behance

-Coroflot

#4 Think about Opening an Online Shop …

Why? If you aren’t ready to approach a commercial gallery or if you would rather handle the sale of your work this is a great alternative. Selling your work online can also open doors to opportunities depending on who might stumble upon your shop.

What’s the Key? I’ll say it again great images! Having high quality images are going to make all the difference here. Also, being aware of how to safely and properly ship your work is important.

Where? Here are some sites where you can you to sell your work or build your own shop:

-Etsy

-Society6

-Big Cartel

-Saatchi Online

#5 Start Building Your Contact List and Create Newsletters.

Why? What better way to send out your exhibit invites? Or the new listings to your online store? Newsletters are a great way to let people know about your upcoming events, new work and blog posts. Here is a great post with 23 Things to Talk about in Your Art Newsletter.

How? Building a newsletter can be really simple if you use an email newsletter provider like Mail Chimp (our personal fav.), Campaing Monitor or Constant Contact. All of these providers make it easy for you to add buttons to your website/blog and Facebook page so people can sign-up to your newsletter.

I hope these five essential online tools help you to build your online presence and get your work out to a new group of people!

If you found this information helpful please share it with others:

This week the Business Blog Vault brings us this question:

“When art becomes your job, do artists get ‘unartistic’ hobbies to distract from work?”

Perhaps the word “unartistic” wasn’t the best, but I think this question is an interesting one. Part of my interest stems from the fact that this implies that art is a hobby. Being an artist, an arts administrator and the owner of an artist-run-space I have never really seen art as a hobby. To me it was always a career choice, even if I couldn’t always do it as my main source of income. I was curious how other artists felt about this question so I posed it to two practicing artists– one a crafter/illustrator/painter and the other a painter/printmaker/performance artist.

Let’s start with the painter, printmaker and performance artist Alice Teichert. I met Alice while working as the assistance curator at Oeno Gallery.  Alice was born in Paris and raised in Brussels, she studied music, visual poetry, visual arts and printmaking in Belgium and France. Her interest in North American abstract painting led her to continue studies in the USA and Canada, where she has been living since 1984. Alice has built an international career with exhibitions of her work in France, Canada, Switzerland and Australia. In response to the question Alice wrote:

“To me the word ‘unartistic’ does not make any sense. Art making to me is definitely not merely just ‘a job’ or a profession, but a life commitment. This kind of work is beyond a ‘ job’ designation . Besides I find myself in constant communication with my art practice which ever I turn, wherever I am … and I seem to carry over my artistic/ creative sense into whatever else I do. I have no need to distract myself from my art making practice, rather I find myself not having enough hours in a day to be able to do what I would want to do in a day … Art making is a journey and has its own rhythm. In connection to my art practice I choose to complement/ balance my life with other creative activities such as cooking, gardening, travelling and recently beekeeping … All these aspects make a full journey, … hm, not sure that I would want to call these other creative activities ‘hobbies’ … they are just other aspects that make my life. I do not differentiate one area from another as everything is connected to create a whole life experience.”

Cute Owl by Kirsten McCrea

Our second artist is painter, illustrator, entrepreneur and crafter (also a past resident) Kirsten McCrea. Kirsten is a Canadian artist with a penchant for pop culture, politicos, and patterns. Continuing on the “P” theme, she is also the Founder & Director of Papirmasse, an affordable art subscription that delivers a monthly art print to people around the world. When not painting on her own Kirsten illustrates and makes collaborative art with Cease and En Masse. As you can see she is up to many things, which is why I thought her perspective on this topic would be an interesting one. To top it all off her partner, JP King, is also a practicing artist. Here was her response:

“This question strikes really close to home – it is one that my partner and I talk about A LOT. We are both artists, and also both workaholics. I’ve been making art as my full-time job for the last three years, and JP works in a related industry during the day, and then makes his own art at night. We talk about art CONSTANTLY. This winter we were craft-fairing every week, and I began to fear that our relationship was devolving into a string of questions about where to source bags and who would get the float money. I actually wondered if we were capable of having a conversation that was not craft-fair related.

So sometimes I ask myself: why do I work all the time? Which then leads immediately to wondering: *Am I* working all the time??? It’s hard to know, because when you do what you love it doesn’t necessarily feel like “work”. For a large portion of every day I am answering e-mails and doing boring art admin stuff, so when I actually get a chance to sit down and paint, it doesn’t feel like work at all. Making art is what ends up feeling like my “off” time. BUT – this can lead to an unhealthy pattern of doing admin work all day, art work all night, and then realizing that you haven’t seen your friends in weeks and can only talk about boring art career stuff with your spouse (really, it’s boring. I promise).

There are a lot of other things I like doing: bike riding, going to the gym, reading, cooking, going out dancing. Being an artist is hard because you have no boss and it’s up to you how much you get done in a day. If you’re like me and have unrealistic expectations about how much you can actually accomplish in a 16-hour period, you may very well find yourself sacrificing hobbies because you feel guilty for not having made more art (and are always aware of how prolific your most admired peers seem to be…).

I have very consciously FORCED myself to take up non-art related hobbies this year. Honestly, anything that is art-related just couldn’t be called a hobby for me. But running isn’t going to build my art practice, nor is going out for beer, nor is reading fiction or going to visit a new part of town – which is why I am trying really hard this year to grant myself permission to do several hours of those things every week.

It’s not necessarily a distraction from work, but it is a way to feel like a more normal, balanced human being. I got totally sucked into an “art all the time” vortex for two years, and I am happy to have other aspects to my life now.”

Conclusion, artists seem to live, breath and talk art. What I found even more interesting was that the “hobby activities” that both of these women enjoy are still creative. I guess this means the answer is “no”.  What also seemed to come out of this question was that creative people are driven, organized and constantly thinking about their practice. Perhaps being a practicing artist isn’t about having a job or a hobby but about having a lifestyle.

What are your thoughts on this topic? Do you think of art as a hobby? We would love to hear your comments.

If you thought this Business Blog Post was helpful please share it with others:

This week the Business of Art vault brought this question:

Where is contemporary art being made in Canada?

To this I say: Everywhere.

Contemporary art is being made all over the country. There isn’t one geographic area where it is all happening. What this question made me realize is that maybe there isn’t a great resource showcasing some of the amazing things happening in the Canadian art scene. I have compiled a short list of some of the awesome Canadian writers, bloggers, spaces and artists that I visit or support.

• The MOCCA: The mandate of the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art is to exhibit, research, collect, and promote innovative art by Canadian and international artists whose works engage and address challenging issues and themes relevant to our times. I always catch really great shows here when I visit Toronto, Ontario.

• Magic Pony: Magic Pony is dedicated to the exhibition and promotion of the best in young contemporary art. We operate as a studio, gallery and retail environment, combining elements of art, design and popular culture to create a unique shopping experience. This is an amazing place to find new and exciting young Canadian artists. Tt is always on my list of places to stop into while visiting Toronto, Ontario. 

• Toronto Craft Alert: A great resource for crafters and craft enthusiasts this site lists upcoming sales, calls for submissions, educational opportunities and featured articles about amazing crafters from all over. 

• The Hamilton Art Crawl: Hamilton is starting to make a name for itself in the Canadian art scene, making their monthly art crawl must see event.

• Forest City Gallery: FCG’s mandate is to serve as a forum for local, regional, national and international artists through the presentation of relevant contemporary practices in visual/media arts, performance, literature and music. A great space offering interesting exhibitions and events in London, Ontario.

• Modern Fuel: Modern Fuel aims to meet the professional development needs of emerging and mid-career local, national and international artists, from diverse cultural communities, through exhibition, discussion, and mentorship opportunities. This is a great gallery space in Kingston, Ontario showcasing many talented Canadian artists.

• En Masse: Montreal, Quebec based art initiative EN MASSE is best described as an ongoing exercise in irreverent, improvised collaborative drawing — a boundary-blurring cocktail of high and lowbrow culture, pop imagery fragmented like shattered glass in a spontaneous, multi-genre, black-on-white collision.

• Poppytalk Handmade: Poppytalk is a Canadian (Vancouver, British Columbia based) design blog collecting inspiration and dedicated to promoting emerging design talent. I visit this site regularly for inspiration.

• Booooooom: Amazing art blog from Vancouver, British Columbia artist Jeff Hamada.  Booooooom was created in the hopes of fostering a community of people excited to go out and be creative! This blog is great for learning about contemporary artists from Canada.

• Khyber Art Centre: The Khyber, est. 1995, is a non-profit, artist-run centre located in an historic, three-story building in downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia. The centre presents contemporary art exhibitions, artist lectures, panel discussions, performances and offers art classes to youth.

• Urban Shaman Contemporary Aboriginal Art: Located in Winnipeg, Manitoba the Urban Shaman Contemporary Aboriginal Art is a nationally recognized leader in Aboriginal arts programming and one of the foremost venues and voices for Aboriginal art in Canada.

• Art Central: About Art Central is a visual art complex at the corner of Centre Street and 7th Avenue in downtown Calgary, Alberta. Art Central aspires to be the axis of the visual art scene in Calgary: the place where artists conjoin with galleries and art aficionados, the stimulus for the production of excellence, innovation, and new ideas, the place where art intersects with the community, enlarging its experience and enhancing its perception of art.

• UPPERCASE Magazine: Another great source of information surrounding talented people from all over, Uppercase Magazine is a quarterly craft, fashion, illustration, and design journal published by Janine Vangool in Calgary, Alberta. 

I would love to hear of any other places (as I am sure there are many) so please feel free to add your favorite Canadian art place, space or person to our comments section.

If you thought these links were interesting share them with a friend:

This week from the Business of Art Question Vault:

“Are the arts accessible enough for artists to further society and culture?”

Wow … heavy. I wish I would have kept better record of which applicant asked which question. I really see this question as two questions– one being “is art accessible?” and the second being “can art still be used to effect society and culture?”.

In response to accessibility I think it is more a question about education and the importance placed on art by the community. If people are educated at a young age about art and the community they live in is supportive of the arts then they are much more likely to support artistic expression and venues. I don’t think it is about art being accessible. Art is never inaccessible. By this I mean that anyone can go to a gallery or a museum, anyone can go to the theatre or music venue and anyone can go to a book store … but …  do you know enough about art to feel comfortable going to any of these places?

I do think that the internet has allowed artistic expression to become more accessible. Sites like Youtube or Vimeo have open the doors for artists to get their work out to the public. The internet has helped many young creative entrepreneurs promote and sell their products through sites like Etsy. People are being given the opportunity to understand creative processes through blogs and how-to videos. It is a great time to be a creative person because of these tools. Creative people now have a platform where they can educate the public about the value of handmade goods.

Let’s move onto the second half of this question– can art result in change? Another huge topic. My personal opinion is yes. I do think that art has the power to effect people, make someone consider something in a new or different way and encourage people to make changes in their life or community. I think the easiest way to illustrate this point is through a few examples.

•  I recently watched a Vice TV series about Palestinian filmmaking.  The series focuses on a young man working towards educating Palestinian youth about the power of film. The series explains how some Palestinians are using film as an expression of what it is like to grow up in the camps. Obviously Vice has a lot of critics and there are different sides to the Palestinian situation … I am not trying to take a stand with this reference I simply think this series was an interesting showcase of how people living in the Palestinian camps are using film to communicate their experiences.
  

• On a much less political note I would like to reference a TED Talk by Ze Frank. I watch a lot of TED Talks and one that stands out in relation to this topic is Ze Frank’s 2010 talk, specifically the collaborative music projects. Ze does many interested and weird online collaborative projects but his song written for Laura (mentioned at the end of this talk) was composed of voices from people all over the world telling Laura that “Hey, you’re ok. You’ll be fine. Just breath.”. The idea that strangers came together, took time out of their day, to participate in a creative group collaboration to benefit a stranger is pretty powerful.

• This article on Hyperallergic titled “Can Art Create World Change?” talks about three artists, Claudy Jongstra, Vik Muniz and Olafur Eliasson, who’s work directly effects their local village, their country or many areas around the world.

I hope these artists properly illustrate just some of the power creativity can hold in today’s society. If you have examples of how artists have effected you or your community please post a comment below.

If you liked this post please share it with others:

We recently attending an event organized by the Kingston Arts Council called Building Artist Communities. This event was a public forum in which the participants were seated, in groups, at different “topic” tables. Each topic addressed an issue found in most art communities– collaboration, funding, communication, space, etc. The event asked for each person to answer two questions in response to their tables “topic” and as a group discuss the answers. For example, Kyle and I sat at the Funding Table where we responded to the questions based on the topic of funding and discussed with the group issues with funding for the local arts community.

It was  a question brought up with this group which inspired me to write this post. It is a well-known fact that arts organizations and independent artists are often searching for funding to start projects, access space, etc. It is also known that the federal, provincial and municipal arts councils offer funding options but that this money is difficult to access because of the number of applicants and limited funds to disperse. The question asked was essentially, what other options do you we have as artists and arts organizations?

The first thing that came to my mind was crowdfunding, but to my surprise no one else at the table knew what this was. Obviously I realized this would be a perfect Business Art post as crowdfunding is a great way to access funds and use the amazing networking power of social media. Crowdfunding “describes the collective cooperation, attention and trust by people who network and pool their money and other resources together, usually via the Internet, to support efforts initiated by other people or organizations.” (Wikipedia). As you can probably imagine this is an excellent way to get your ideas out to a large audience, heighten interest in your creative venture and gain support and funding from real people who are interested in what you are doing.  I was going to do my best to explain crowdfunding but then I found a post on The Small Business Blog which provides much more insightful information about the process then I would have been able to. As well the Small Business Blog posted a link to the  infographic found at the end of this post (just click the image below to make it larger), which was commissioned by PleaseFund.Us in collaboration with Crowdsourcing.org and designed by Dorothy Sanders of Sandfishdesign.co.uk, which provides all the information about this amazing funding opportunity. I want to thank Dorothy for allowing me to use her graphic to give you all a new way to think about fundraising and financing your creative projects!

If you found this information helpful please share it with others:

This weeks The Business Side of Art question is: What are graduate schools looking for in terms of potential students?

This was a surprisingly difficult question for me to answer because I have not considered applying for a masters degree. I looked long and hard to try to come up with an answer to this question. After hours of hunting online I really came up with little concrete information. But I did come up with a different way of looking at this question. I considered the fact that every school is looking for something different and therefore there is no one list of traits a potential student should have. After thinking about it this way I realized the real question is “what are you looking for in a potential graduate school?” Once you have this answered you will find that you are what that school is looking for in a potential student.

After creating the new question I started asking myself what I would look for in a school and I came up with a few questions you might want to ask yourself:

1. What type of work you would like to focus on? Are you a painter? Illustrator? Photographer? Are you going to need access to any special type of equipment (i.e. a darkroom or print studio)?
-Not every school is going to offer the equipment you might need for your discipline, in the same vein, not every school is going to focus on every field of art. It is important that the school you select is one that is going to suit you and the art practice you want to focus on.

2. Do they offer private studios to each student? Is this important to you?
-Are you the type of person who likes to have a studio they can have to themselves? Somewhere you can leave your work, shut a door and create independently? You might want to make sure that the school you are interested in provides this. Not every school is going to have the same set-up so always double check.

3. Is the school located somewhere you’d like to live and work in the future?
-This may seem like an odd suggestion but I think it is important that you are going to live somewhere around the place you decide to go to graduate school. If you consider the reasons for attending graduate school – becoming a teacher or driving your career through new contacts – you will begin to see why this is a really important question. It is going to be easier to utilize these connections if you continue to work in the area after you graduate.

4. What are the professors like?
-These are going to be your mentors for the next few years, so respecting their work and philosophies will make this experience much more enjoyable. Take the time to do some research on their work and select a school that has professors that work in a similar medium or style to yours. This way you know you are going to respond well to their feedback.

5. Will you need funding?
-If you need the school to help support you financially through such things as TA-ships it is important to make sure that they are available. Also, it is good to know if there are scholarships available to students entering the MFA program.

These were my top five questions. But after writing these out I went hunting for other questions people were asking when considering graduate school. During this search I came across a great article from the New York Foundations for the Art website. The Ten Tips for Those Considering MFA Programs article made many of the points I had made but had some great reflections from current MFA students. It also added a few additional points such as considering the duration of the program, thinking about your expectations, taking your time and supporting your own decision to get your MFA. I especially thought author Ilana Stanger’s question about becoming a teacher was a good one to consider. The article points out that “… if you’re not excited about teaching, you should apply for residencies instead. The MFA qualifies you to teach. That’s it. Think about that.” Let me ensure you that I don’t just like this point because I run a residency but because I think it is important to really understand why you are taking your masters degree.

Now that you have some questions to help you narrow your focus and you have answered why you want to attend an MFA program I think you will find that you have answered the question “what makes a potential MFA student?”.

If you enjoy this work let other people know by sharing it:

This weeks The Business Side of Art question is: “Where can I access materials to help me with funding and the application process for grants?”

Sourcing funding is an important part of the art world since, like any business, artists need capital in order to produce work. For some artists and art organizations applying for grants can occupy more time than is actually spent making work or running the facility. Along with being time consuming grant writing can be extremely challenging. Being surrounded by artists regularly we have heard our fair share of grant secrets, success stories and failures. We have even experience some of these first hand. Our first two years were successfully funded by a provincial grant but our third year has seen no grants at all.

The hard and fast answer to this question is that there isn’t one right way to apply for funding. There are elements that can make you a more eligible candidate.  Having provoking and well documented work, creating an intriguing project idea, incorporating programs with the local community or addressing current national issues are just some of the ways you can help yourself receive funding. The thing to remember is that reading the guidelines carefully is the most important step. Knowing that your project/work fulfills the grant requirements is always going to help you get further in the granting process. Ensure you are clear about what you are planning to with the funding and be realistic. Most artist grants have a large number of applicants so make sure you review every detail of your application and request a realistic amount for your project.

While it can be surprisingly hard to find solid information about writing grants successfully there are a few online resources that will help you put together a grant application. I have listed a few below:

CARFAC ONTARIO

-CARFAC is a great resource for Canadian artists. Not only do they produce comprehensive publications they also host workshops meant to demystify many of the business challenges artist have.

S. JOSEPH LEVINE’S GUIDE TO WRITING A FUNDING PROPOSAL

-This guide is filled with great information and takes you through a grant application step-by-step. It gives you hints along with examples and is often updated with new information.

GRANTING AGENCIES (ex. Canada Arts Council)

-It is good to remember that the granting agency has staff that are there to help you write. If you plan well enough in advance these people are a great wealth of knowledge. You can call or write them with all your questions and they will provide you with answers that will help make sure you are writing what the granter is looking for. There are often grant writing sessions offered by granting agencies as well. These sessions will explain what programs are available, who is eligible and how to apply.

YES MONTREAL

-The YES Montreal website has many great resources but their Making Your Way Handbook (which is free) has some valuable information about grant writing, along with tips about pricing your work, making media contacts, etc.

If you know of other helpful resources that can be added to this list send me an email chrissy[at]sparkboxstudio.com

If you found this information helpful please let other people know by sharing it:

When people apply for our Artist Residency Award we ask them to list their top three questions about being a professional artist. It was my plan to answer these questions after each award segment, but, alas time is always an issue and so far that hasn’t happened. The great thing is I am ready to start tackling these now. The first question I am going to address is a great one and also one I have been giving a lot of thought to lately (as I have been updating our Etsy shop). This question is “How do I properly Document my Work”.

Documenting your work is THE most important part of promoting yourself as an artist. Images of your work are what get people interested in what you are doing. Because of this, documenting your work properly is an important investment as an artist and entrepreneur. Personally, I like to hire a photographer to take images of my art work. I struggle with taking great photos and I am even worse with editing them. My paintings often have different textures, vibrant colours and high shine areas which make them very difficult to take images of.  I would rather ensure that I get the best photo possible by hiring a professional. You can see in the example below why working with a professional can give you that added advantage. In the image I took there is glare, the image is dark, the colours are off, but with the professionally taken image the colours are true, you can see the details in the work and there is no glare.

If you choose to take this route here are some tips I have learned over the years when working with photographers:

1. Find a brightly lit area of your home or studio where you can set-up the shots. It would be best if this space has a blank wall you can hang your work on easily (or a place where you can set-up a table for three dimensional work).

2. Have everything prepared before the photographer arrives. I like to make sure I have all the work I want photographed set out in the order I want them taken. I also have a nail in the wall where I can hang each of my paintings. This way the photographer just has to set-up his camera in one spot and I can change the work for him or her. This makes the process much faster which is good for both the photographer and yourself (especially if you are being charged by the hour).

3. Remember to get details. This is something I often forget when working with photographers. If you have the time consider getting some close-up images of your work (especially if there are interesting textures in your pieces). It is also nice to have a “in situ” shot so that a potential buyer can see what your work looks like in a space, this also gives them an idea of size.

If you are confident in your photography skills or if hiring a photographer is just a bit out of your means that is fine as well. We have a wonderful PDF written by a close friend and photographer, Paul Hubble. Paul outlines, in detail, all of the information you need to take images with your own camera.

There are also a number of online resources with helpful tips on this topic. I recently watch a great video on the Etsy website about how to take product images. Even though you might not be photographing crafts these tips can be easily used for paintings, prints or sculpture.

If you found this helpful please share it with others:

If you’re like me you may find that you procrastinate on the things that you aren’t that confident doing. For example, building a website for your work. You may not know what templates work best for artists, maybe you are unsure of where to look to get your hosting or domain (maybe you don’t even know what those words are), whatever the case, having a website that shows your work, bio and CV is very important when starting your career.

The first thing you will want to do is pick a domain name that works best for you and your work. For example, my domain is chrissypoitras.com. If people want to search for my work they will be more likely to look up my name in a search engine. If you decide to use something other than your name make sure you think it through and have a good way of making people aware that when searching for you they should search that name in google/yahoo/etc.

Next you will need to purchase that domain name (we use godaddy.com).  You should purchase the .com and .ca versions of your site if you are from the USA or Canada. This will ensure that people typing in your site can type either and find you.

Now that you have your domain name purchased you should purchase you hosting service. You can also do this through godadddy.com.

NOW, before I go too far, there are other options as well. You can use sites like otherpeoplespixels.com where you can pick your template, purchase your domain and hosting all in one spot and they work only with artists.

If you decide you want to get a blog template you can either set it up with godaddy.com so that your domain name doesn’t look like this: chrissypoitras.blogspot.com. OR if you don’t really care about having .wordpress or .bloodspot, etc tagged onto the latter part of your domain than you don’t necessarily need to purchase a domain name or hosting service at all.

Have I lost you yet??

I hope not. Lets just recap:

1. Think about what you want you site to be called. Either name it after yourself so that it is an easy search for galleries and potential buyers OR pick something different that relates to your work (just make sure this makes sense before doing so).

2. Think about whether you want to purchase your domain name and hosting services OR if you are fine with having WordPress or Blogspot or Tumblr adding their name at the end of your domain. Once you have decided continue to either start your blog or purchase you domain and hosting.

Now that you have made your choice you can start looking through the many online templates. You can find several different styles at the sites listed below. Your hosting/domain service should have a great troubleshooting service and can help you upload your template to your website.

Artist Website Templates:

artistportfoliowebsite.com

otherpeoplespixels.com

foliolink.com

foliosnap.com

foliotwist.com

mosaicglobe.com

bigblackbag.com

indexhibit.org

cargocollective.com

Blog Websites:

blogger.com

wordpress.com

tumblr.com

Now that you have your template start populating it. Select the work that best represents who you are. Put up your bio, contact information, artist statement and CV. All of these items will give viewers an idea of who you are and what you are about.

You can also post your work on these sites:

artsetter.com

flickr.com

myartspace.com

behance.net

deviantart.com

These sites bring in different clients and it is always a good idea to get your work out on as many sites as possible. This will give you more chance to get noticed.

If you decided that the template sites aren’t your thing you can always hire someone to help you with your website. These can get expensive and it is generally a good idea to have the capability to edit/update your website on your own.

p>

Last night we had a great turn out for our collaborative “How to Work the Media Workshop” with the Kingston Arts Council. With 6 panelists and a great group of attendees the night was filled with informative media tips and valuable questions. Our panelists were honest and forthcoming with their advice and our audience didn’t shy away from asking real questions and discussing challenges they face when trying to get their exhibits, openings and events noticed by local and national media.

Greg Tilson, Programming Director for the Kingston Arts Council, picked a solid panel featuring many local media reps including Rene Dick from Scout Design, Steve Campbell from The County Magazine, Katy McIntyre from the Picton Arts Council and Scott Johnston from the Picton Gazette. Below is a sample of some of the great information that was offered to the group. This tidbit comes from Adam Bramburger, the editor from the Picton Gazette. Here Adam tells us what he looks for in a press release.

TIPS FOR PRESS RELEASES

There’s a simple format that I teach reporters and people writing press releases to follow that I’ll pass along. This format should help them get the media’s attention. I think most people have watched the movie Austin Powers and remember my favourite character, Fat Bastard — another oversized redhead — and his catch phrase “Get In ma belly.” Well, if they remember Get INMA, they’ll be set.

INMA to me, is an acronym with all the pertinent questions the media needs to know.

I – The Issue

Simply put, tell us what you’re about in a single sentence with focus – somebody doing something for a reason.   That’s enough to build a story on right there.

N -  What’s New

We need a hook to tell us what makes what you’re doing different than anything that hasn’t happened before and why it is timely right now for us to be there.

M – What it Means

We need to know why the average joe, whether they’re superbly interested in the arts or not should care that this development happened.  Give some context to let us know the broader hopes of what you want to accomplish.

A – What’s Ahead

This is where you make sure you relate to the community what they can do with relation to your event or project — get in the dates, prices, phone and e-mail whatever — and maybe leave them looking forward to things that will happen in the future.

Other things to consider:

1. Contact by email and phone (usually on the same day). Mention that you have sent an email or that you phoned earlier and that you are following up to ensure everything was received. Adam mentions that Wednesdays are the WORST days to try and get in touch with him, consider asking other media representatives the best or worst day to contact them.

2. Don’t clog up your press release with bios and photos. Keep it simple. Send all the additional information as added attachments.

3. Think about timing. It is best to send in a story two weeks before your event. This way the media can plan and have time to get your information out there.

4. Adam would like to reveal a press release myth, that media would rather have press releases or articles written by someone else and submitted in full to save time. For the Picton Gazette it is the exact opposite. They employ many reporters and journalists and they would much rather give them the job of writing about your event, putting together an interview and writing an article for the paper.

5. When you are drafting your press release for the media consider what they generally feature in their paper/magazine/website. The Picton Gazette  enjoys featuring local artists who are engaging with the public, doing something interesting and different and enriching the community.

6. Always consider sending a one-line summation. Sometimes it might be a good thing to send as a subject line, as a headline on a press release or as a bold note.

7. It is always a good idea to give the time, date, and place in a simple to find manner.