I am putting together a presentation on sites that really do a nice job of showcasing artists work on their sites and am looking for some suggestions from you. Are there any exemplary ones, shows that do an excellent job on this?
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Here is good website: http://desmoinesartsfestival.org/
I don't care for their web design that much but all the information and the navigation is pretty good. They have a present and past Artist list, searchable by medium, an Art Festival map, etc. The navigation is simple and the information is updated and easy to be found. They also have FB and Twitter presence.
All good suggestions. Thanks everyone. Actually, I'm not looking for a site that is helpful to people attending the shows necessarily (sorry about that), I'm looking for sites that showcase the entire artist presentation, not just a thumbnail attached to a booth space. I ran across a bunch of them last year when I was looking for examples of jury images and didn't make a note of them. But Ruth, I believe that artinthepearl was one of the ones I was looking for. I'll check on the other also. Thank you!
Here are a couple of West Coast shows
http://www.artinthehighdesert.com/index.html
http://www.artinthepearl.com/festival-artists/
http://www.kingsmountainartfair.org/artists/#gallery
Check out what the Madison Art Fair on the Square does. You can filter the artists by Media, they also provide the booth number and a map. Link to the artist website is also added (if available).
http://www.mmoca.org/programs-events/events/art-fair-square/partici...
Hey Connie, there are really three benefits to shows showcasing artists on their websites. One is giving patrons the ability to "pre-browse" the show and see artists that they want to visit. The second is giving them a resource so that if they saw a piece they liked at the show but can't buy it right away, they can re-visit the site later, find the artist, and make a purchase.
Toward those objectives, I would consider whether shows go to the trouble to list the booth number of the artist (or at least, provide a map of the site). And second, find out how long the showcase pages stay in place after the show ends.
The third criterion (applicable to promoters that run multiple shows per year): If they "gang" all the artists who exhibit with their shows, how easy is it to find the artist? Are they simply listed alphabetically, forcing the visitor to scroll through multiple pages, or is there a search by show or search by artist functionality?
The other question I have for you: When you say "sites", are you looking for traditional web sites or are you including social media sites (FB, Pinterest, etc.)?
Hi Connie,
Hopefully this is what your looking for - these are a couple I grabbed that I think do a really nice job promoting the artisans:
Bedminster
American Heritage
Good idea, but I'm looking for sites that will help artists see the competition - an overview like you'd get at an open jury.
Connie, Great idea, thanks from us "little people", there have been a couple times where I check out last years metal artist and have been blown away with their style, then I know whether to jury or not. It has saved me in jury fees when I know the quality is over my head.
How about adding shows that have good iphone apps. Fort Worth is probably at the top as is the combination of Ann Arbor shows.
Larry Berman
http://BermanGraphics.com
412-401-8100