Artist's Social Media Toolkit

At my meetup last week, I met a lot of artists who were interested in learning more about how to promote themselves on the web and get their work in front of people. It got me thinking about availble resources online that individual artists could use to self-publish their work, exchange ideas with fellow artists and interact with existing and potential customers/fans. Then, this past Thursday, @bethrharris (Director of Digital Learning at the MoMA and one of the masterminds behind http://www.smarthistory.org/, the most beautiful art history "web-book" I've seen to date. Their use of multimedia is excellent and the content is smart, rich and fascinating.) posted a comment on Twitter about whether the internet turns the individual into a curator and I haven't been able to get the thought out of my head since.

On the web, the artist has an opportunity to circumspect the gatekeepers at traditional galleries and museums (I'm writing in the context of visual art, but these ideas can be applied to just about anything, I think) and curate his own show, where the work is showcased in dozens of different "exhibition halls" all around the web--for instance Flickr, YouTube, perhaps an online community, or a widget. Ideally, the artist would also increase engagement with his audience by de-mystifying the artistic process and helping provide context to the work and what inspired it in the form of a blog or a podcast. Each new work could be documented in the conception and execution phases, the process and thoughts behind it could be explained, the audiences questions could be answered.

In any case, if I were an artist, here are some things I'd be doing to "curate" my web presence:

1. Keep a blog. It doesn't have to be anything fancy--even just something you post on as little as once a week should suffice, provided that one weekly post be one you've put some time and thought into. Write about what you're working on, what you've been doing lately, what has inspired or intrigued you as of late (if possible, you could throw up a link to it, too), maybe some pictures if you're a visual artist, or an audio sample if you're a musician. Keep an almost journal-like account of what you did that day, what you're thinking about.

Beyond that, your blog should become your home base. Set up a gallery of your work to showcase new and existing projects. If your work is for sale, indicate so and set up a PayPal or other system through which your audience can buy your work at the click of a button. The Art K. MacGuffin blog, for instance, is essentially just a virtual marketplace of art for sale with a few podcasts thrown in to liven up the site.

2. Consider starting a video blog. For those who feel comfortable in front of the camera, a vlog might be an excellent supplement (or even substitute) to a traditional blog. Video is undeniably an entertaining and engaging medium, and equipped with a webcam and some basic editing software, you could effectively do what Valerie at Val's Art Diary does. She started a very popular YouTube channel where she posts weekly videos of her painting, interspersed with some random thoughts and musings. Her social media presence, driven largely by the success of her YouTube vlog, is what keeps her in business and helps her sell her work and get commisions. It's also landed her on Wall Street Journal and FoxNews. You can read some more of her tips for artists here.

3. Make connections on Twitter. I'm a huge Twitter advocate, mostly because I've had so much success with it myself. It's a great way to make connections with people from all over the world--and when I say connections, I don't just mean in a "networking" sense. I really mean when you connect with someone over a shared interest or a point of common ground. I would start out searching for people on Twitter who have similar interests as me by using search.twitter.com to find people who are tweeting about the topics I'm interested in. I'd start following them. If they ever tweeted something that stuck a chord with me, for whatever reason, I'd probably say so, and in that way, start a dialogue with them. A few such interactions, and before you know it, you'll have a new friend. Then, see who they interact with and look for the interesting people in their social circle. Basically it builds from there. The stronger your relationships become with these people, the more likely they'll be to check out your latest blog post or comment on your newest work. Twitter, at least for me, is more akin to a community of folks, and I often turn to them with questions or calls for help. The best part is--they listen and answer.

4. Join an online community. Speaking of communities, you should join one. There are tons of online communities [read: social networks, messageboards, forums] for artists, musicians, actors, dancers, etc. Find the ones that more apply to or interest you and join one. If I were a visual artist, I might join DeviantART or Artlog, not just because they're places where I can showcase my work, but also because I can participate in a conversation with my peers, share information and ideas, strike up friendships and collaborations, and accrue a support system for myself via this virtual community.

5. Search for opportunities to display your work. One of the best things about the web is that it's a place of constant change and innovation. New websites, businesses, applications and widgets are cropping up every day, and many of them may be excellent opportunities for you to get your work in front of an audience. The wider you cast your net, the greater your chances of making a sale or scoring a commission--you never know who your work will wind up in front of, or how they may react to it. One thing to remember though, is to make sure all roads lead back to you (or, rather, to your home base--your blog) and at every opportunity available, your contact info or, when appropriate, a "Buy Now" button, are prominently on display.

Some examples of the kinds of opportunities I mean:

Art for iPhone, Artzilla, Add-art.org

I'm sure there are lots other out there. I found out about these via Twitter, blogs, and online communities, which is why it's good to participate in, or at least listen to, the discussions your peers are having in these spaces.

These are what I consider the "essentials." What else do you think should be on this list? I welcome your thoughts!

An Inspiring Quotation

As mundane as it may sound, I've spent the better part of today getting my blogroll in order (check out the new additions in Links) and vetting my Google Reader. I had hoped to write some, but instead I spent a lot of time reading and exploring the dozens of blogs and websites I had bookmarked and saved for later browsing (speaking of which, I should really start using my Delicious account again...).

Just wanted to share an excerpt from a keynote address by Diane Ragsdale at the Australia Council arts marketing summit that I found particularly poignant:

Arts organizations need to find a way to assess their progress in—for lack of a better goal—making great art that matters to people—as evidenced, perhaps, by increased enthusiasm, frequency of attendance, the capacity and desire to talk or write about one’s experience, or in some other way respond to the experience, the curiosity to learn about the art form and the ideas encountered, the depth of emotional response, the quality of the social connections made, and the expansion of one’s aesthetics over time.
We can’t declare mission accomplished just because we get people in the door—we need to care about how the experience has affected them.

And...

The Internet has given everyone with access the tools to create and distribute their own art. Arts organizations could become mentors, resource providers, or sources of content that could be re-purposed by amateur artists. Or they could invite pro-am artists to submit artistic work that could be displayed on their Web sites as a way of building community—and, who knows, maybe even finding new talent or new programming ideas.

Huge thanks to Beth Dunn and Nina Simon for linking to the speech in their blogs last week. It is a lengthy but deeply insightful speech and I highly recommend reading it. I think Ragsdale does a really nice job of outlining the areas where cultural institutions need to reassess their game plan and citing examples of innovators who have already begun making strides. Exploring the ideas, exhibitions, productions and sources mentioned in this speech will keep me busy for quite a while, so I figured I should share.

Do you have any other resources for me? I am a sponge right now.

First Meetup = Success!

This past Thursday was the first meeting of my Arts, Culture and Technology meetup and...it went well! I'm happy to say that all my worrying was for naught--people came, they mingled, they met people with similar interests and had inspiring conversations. Everyone seemed to genuinely enjoy themselves and, for my part, it felt great to bring people together in a meaningful way. By the end of the night, I was on top of the world and giddy with the vibrant energy in the room that night.

I've been trying to remember some interesting details or an anecdote from the night, but to be honest, from the moment the first guest walked into the back room at Art Bar, the night became a blur of greeting, handshaking, brief snippets of conversation, followed by more greeting and handshaking. I did my best to introduce people to one another and facilitate the networking, but I'm pretty sure some of the best connections of the night happened entirely on their own.

What was most illuminating for me was that the very things I dreaded about this meetup--the fact that the group was so diverse and seemingly unweildy--ended up being the things people praised the most. One member wrote in his meetup rating that "Anyone who is interested in the topic should show up, there is a wide variety of people and interests," and I wholeheartedly believe that to be true.

There were artists present who had no idea what Twitter was, but walked away with the intention to join, as well as a whole list of blogs to follow and instructions on how to create a Google Reader. There were also tech innovators looking to make a connection in the non-profit sector or just to get some inspiration for their next project. What surprised me was how the two extremes effectively balanced each other out through a desire to help one another and exchange ideas and information.

I can't speak for anyone else but I walked away from the event excited about the people I had met and with a calendar full of coffee and lunch dates to continue the night's discussions further, as well as the feeling that this was a wonderful new community in the making.

Thoughts on "Museums & Society 2034"

So, the Center for the Future of Museums released a report today entitled: Museums & Society 2034: Trends and Potential Futures. In lieu of a traditional blog post, I'm posting my notes and thoughts on the report. I apologize in advance if it gets kind of rambly--as per usual, this was written at 1am.

First, a little contextual info:

Reach Advisors pored over nearly a thousand articles, data sets, interviews and discussion forums to identify the trends that are most likely to change U.S. society and museums during the next 25 years. Our quarry was the emerging structural changes that are highly likely to reshape society and highly likely to affect museums.

The first point had to do with the aging Baby Boomers. The report posits that the aging Boomer population means museums should consider ways to address their needs and, in essence, cater to them more. They plan on responding by having:

“Exhibit labels have bigger print and museums are easier to navigate with a walker or wheelchair.”

And getting them to become volunteers:

And just as 2008 witnessed a presidential campaign that reinvented civic involvement for a new generation of young adults, museums will take the lead in reshaping civic involvement for a new generation of aging
citizens.

Why are museums focusing on looking backward rather than forward? Why do they think that innovation and innovative platforms are reserved for those trying to reach the youth market? Sure, this may be largely plausible, but the Baby Boomer generation is one that's pretty comfortable and familiar with technology and the internet--after all, they witnessed some of the biggest leaps and bounds in the world of computer technology and the [social?] web. It seems narrow-minded and short-sighted to assume that the only way to meet their looming geriatric needs is by increasing the font size on wall displays and installing wheelchair ramps. Perhaps an aging population's decreased mobility will increase the time they spend online, and therefore museums might benefit from having more virtual exhibitions.

Next point ventured into the ethnographic. Citing a population composition that is apparently headed for a “minority majority” and acknowledging a clear lack of minority museum goers at present (while minorities make up 34% of the population, only 9% are active museum visitors), the report asks:

If 5 to 9 is the critical age for converting children into lifelong museumgoers and advocates, how can museums attract minority children in this age range whose support they want in 2034?

One seemingly obvious way to do so is to target schools and develop engaging education programs. Technology in the form of educational computer games and kid-friendly exhibits (the Whitney’s recent Alexander Calder exhibition comes to mind) could be one way to do so. Exhibitions with strong cultural ties that address issues within specific minority communities could also help bridge that divide. The Brooklyn Museum’s current The Black List exhibition is one good example of this. Watching the YouTube video testimonials from this exhibition, it’s clear that minority visitors were pleased to see works that they could identify with on a more personal level--things that spoke to them and their experiences. Turning a curatorial eye towards that might not be a bad idea, too.

The report then gets into the rising cost of gas and energy consumption/prices. I’m not going to quote the stats here, I feel like we’ve heard them countless times before. Let’s just sum it up this way: outlook = grim. How do the researchers over at Reach Advisors think this is going to affect museums? Well, people will probably be traveling to them less--which could foreseeably become a problem for small, out of the way destination museums too obscure to make most people’s “life lists.”

Now, I’m not sure if I’ve been brainwashed by all the social media advocates I’ve been interacting with lately, but this seems like an instance where a strong online and social media presence could really help change the relationship people have the museum and it’s collection. Speaking from my own personal experience, developing a relationship with a museum, or rather, a person assuming the voice for the museum and its content via a microblogging site like Twitter has developed a sense of loyalty and curiosity in me.

Prior to starting this project, I had never heard of Pittsburgh’s Mattress Factory museum. Now, after a month or so of tweets and interaction with Jeffrey, who runs the museum’s Twitter account, the museum has made my “life list.” To be fair, I think I initially responded so positively to @MattressFactory because Jeffrey reached out to me regarding some common interests that we have (I think he saw a tweet of mine about the Brooklyn band, The Hold Steady, and sent me a picture he took of them at a show the month before), but my interest and relationship with @MattressFactory has evolved over time as I’ve been keeping track of the projects they have going on, the blog posts and YouTube videos and other links that Jeffrey posts. And, in all honesty, that initial random personal interaction probably shouldn’t be discounted as arbitrary or irrelevant either. I mean, it did work, didn’t it?

I guess my rationale is that, if you’re doing cool things and the content is quality (felt tempted to write “Content is King” right now, but thankfully regained my better sense of judgement in time), the real challenge is just getting that content in front of the interested parties, or at least, people who could potentially be interested. Despite what I or anyone may say about digitizing collections, art is still, fundamentally it seems, something that people want to experience in real life. They want to be around it. They want to see the way it interacts with its space. They want to be able to get up close and see things like texture and shadow and the interplay of color and light. When it comes to art, I think that if you can make a connection with someone in the digital space, it will only inspire a desire in them to take that connection into the physical space. But maybe that’s just me?

So instead of setting up “outposts” in suburban areas, I would argue that it would be wiser (and more economical, both financially and in terms of energy resources) to set up virtual outposts where museums can interact with and convert fans online.

As if finally deciding to get to the point, the following pages start to deal with the digital/tech side of things.

we have witnessed a dramatic structural shift in the expectations of the public (particularly among young adults), which now expects anything that can be digitized to be digital—and usually free.

Uh. Yeah. Duh.

According to research by the Institute for Museum and Library Services, 43% of museum visits in 2006 were remote, predominately via museum websites.

And this, to me, seems like it should have been the thought that framed this report:

This generation grew up with a broad palette of digital tools and creative resources; as a result, they are
demonstrating an extraordinarily high level of creative output and creative consumption.

The following closing point also brings up some interesting food for thought, though I'm not sure if it needs to be quite as alarmist as it comes across here:

we’re also seeing increasing backlash to the proliferation of technology in our research for museums and among the general public. Instead, our consumer research is finding indications of a longing for a retreat, particularly among women over 50 years old, a sentiment that we expect to expand as technology advances. The challenge will be the balancing act of positioning museums as exciting and engaging places to go, while providing a special spot to disengage from the day-to-day.

As someone very actively engaged in the "virtual" world on a daily basis, I can definitely attest to the occasional need to "unplug" and disconnect. I guess if I were to be honest with myself, I would have to admit that I do probably tend to view museums as a respite from the hectic digital world I find myself so often a part of. My only concern in conceding this point is that this kind of thinking seems to somehow vilify technology and could contribute to further skepticism and reticence on the part of many cultural institutions to embrace and adopt innovative technologies in their exhibitions and online presence.

Flickr: A Case Study Pt. 3--The Brooklyn Museum

The last and final installment in this series has finally arrived! Delayed, in part, by the holidays. On that note, I hope your holiday season was a lovely one shared with friends and family. Best wishes in 2009! :)

The Brooklyn Museum:

Image courtesy of wallyg.

So, in the last post, I gave a glowing review to the MoMA’s Flickr presence after stumbling upon the iMoMA group. However, Shelley Bernstein, Manager of Information Systems at the Brooklyn Museum, and the person who runs their Flickr account, was kind enough to point out that the iMoMA page is not actually run by the museum itself. I’m wondering if that may explain the change in name that I noted (from iMoMA to Photomoma). I’m also wondering if MoMA has interacted with the people behind this project and, if so, what kind of reaction it gave. (Given the project’s change in name, my speculation is that the museum did not respond too kindly to the iMoMA group...but who’s to say?).

But anyway, this post is about the Brooklyn Museum, so let’s get to it. Full disclosure: the Brooklyn was one of the first museums I found on Flickr, and they are actually the inspiration for this case study, and in fact, just an inspiration in general. The Brooklyn Museum is a true leader in creativity, enthusiasm and innovation when it comes to experimenting with new media--just take a look at their ArtShare Facebook app or their recently-launched 1stfans Twitter membership program. Their programs communicate a tangible passion for art and love for their audience. The other thing I love about them is that they document all of their projects and progress in a series of staff-written blogs (how’s that for transparency?) which can also serve as blueprints for other cultural institutions.

The Brooklyn’s Flickr profile is really well done--you could even make the argument that they set [some of] the standards for museum social media presence. They’ve got a link to their Flickr group, as well as their  profiles on YouTube, MySpace, Twitter, and Facebook (including ArtShare). The museum is also part of what must be at least 100 Flickr groups, showing that they‘re active in the Flickr community outside of their own profile and group.

The Brooklyn’s profile showcases 3,151 items and the content is all the more engaging for its' variety--from a series of antique shots of Coney Island,to behind the scenes footage of the archives, to shots of after-dark art events and parties--the photos appeal to every subset of the museum’s fan base and portray it in a more dynamic and well-balanced way. You can tell this approach is effective because the museum has 2, 516 contacts and in a recent blog post, Shelley lamented the fact that the museum couldn’t accept any more contacts because it was approaching Flickr’s limit and had more requests than it could fill.

They’ve also got three museum groups, the largest of which has 1,056 members and 2,778 pieces of community submitted content, as well as 52 moderately active discussion threads.

But even more importantly, the Brooklyn Museum has something the other museums don’’t have: a page on the Flickr Commons.

The Brooklyn is one of only 16 museums (16! Why?!) participating in the Flickr Commons project. To be fair, the Commons was only launched last January (2008) and requires that the museum be in possession of a publicly-held photography collection, but I feel like those specifications probably apply to the majority of cultural institutions, or in any case, certainly more than 16.

The Commons is a project that exhibits crowdsourcing at its best. Museums post pictures from their public photography archives and users are asked to provide any additional or identifying information they may have about the photos. It is a project that harnesses collective knowledge in an interesting and powerful (empowering?) way. Not only that, it stimulates creativity and inspires people--Shelley writes on the museum blog of breathtaking mashups and panoramas created by group members and fans.

Anyway, I could probably go on about this, but this blog post has already gotten away from me. I’ll have to make the Flickr Commons into a separate post. In any case, I think it’s fair to say that I’m pretty enamored with the Brooklyn Museum.

Grade: A+

Need I say more?