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Mark Stevens & Annalyn Swan: de Kooning: An American Master
Join our Twitter book club this summer. See Pages above.
Sharon Waxman: Loot: The Battle over the Stolen Treasures of the Ancient World
Lindsay Pollock: The Girl With the Gallery: Edith Gregor Halpert And the Making of the Modern Art Market
LOVE this book! It reveals so much about the early American art market. Halpert was a true pioneer.
Do you consider your age a positive or negative (or neither) for your art career?
Do you reveal your age on your website, etc?
©Celeste Gober, Sandy Hook
When you see an update that you want to comment on or reply to on Twitter, most people click on the Reply arrow on the right side of the update. (See How to Reply to Tweets)
When you do this, the person’s name, in this case @DebraCortese, automatically appears in the Twitter form at the beginning.
You type out a response, send it to the Twitterverse and assume that everyone who follows you can see your conversation with that person.
Not so! Only the people who are following BOTH YOU AND THE PERSON YOU’RE REPLYING TO can see that response.
To get around this, someone smart started using a period before the @, which seems to work--as evidenced here in a reply from JohnTUnger to someone I am not following, which showed up in my Twitter stream.
It’s not necessary that all of your followers see all of your replies. In fact, in can be downright noisy to hear just one side of a conversation. But if you have something interesting to add in your reply--something that you think your followers want to know about--you can either add the period at the beginning (.@abstanfield) or add the @name anywhere in the response EXCEPT at the very beginning. So . . .
This reply that I sent to @AngelSnakes was seen only by the people who were following both AngelSnakes and me.
If I had wanted everyone to see it, I could have written it like this:
Or:
The best lesson I had on this came from the article Much Ado About @reply
Thanks to @WalterHawn for the heads up on this. I honestly had never considered it!
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In the last Deep Thought Thursday I asked if you would pay $17 to see a single painting. I purposely did not provide arguments before or against the notion, nor did I provide you with more than a single link. Still, I’m surprised that such strong opinions were formed without knowing all of the facts. (Of the 36 comments to date, only one person mentions following the link and looking into the topic more in depth. A closer researcher might have caught a major error I made, which I'll confess to in a few paragraphs.)
It’s okay because that’s what I was looking for. I wanted your gut reaction to the idea of paying $17 to view a single masterpiece. In this case, we’re talking about La Velata (Woman with a Veil) by Renaissance master Raphael (dated 1516), which is on view at the Portland Art Museum this fall.
Of those who said No Thanks, these were popular reasons:
So, it’s time to think about it a little more in depth.
First, let’s get some more facts.
As Sheila Mahanke-Barnes noted in her comment, the Portland Art Museum website mentions the following.
To ensure an optimal viewing experience, The Woman with a Veil will be displayed in a gallery with no more than 25 people allowed access at any given time. Text panels, audio and video presentations, and public programs will provide insight into Renaissance art, portraiture, and the artist. (It’s unclear which ones are included with the cost of admission, although we can probably assume that the text panels are thrown in for free.)
As far as I can tell, you can enter the museum (general admission) and see the painting and another special exhibition for $20 total. Or you can enter the museum (general admission) AND see this painting without the other exhibit for $17 total. In my previous post, I believe I said that the $17 was on top of the general admission price, but it looks like I was wrong. No matter. It was a deep thought anyway--just a different deep thought! I’m certain that many of you will rethink your comments about this particular case with this knowledge. (i.e. Would you pay $5 more on top of the $12 general admission to see a single painting?)
Now it’s time for me to play devil’s advocate. I understand all of the reasons above for not wanting to pay extra money to see a single painting, but I’m siding with the museum on this. Here are some of my reasons, which hold true whether it's $5 extra or $17 as I had originally thought. Keep in mind that I usually avoid blockbuster exhibits at all costs. I prefer the quiet of a museum's permanent collection galleries or smaller, focused exhibits. Still, I'd fork over the dough for this one.
Who said art is supposed to be for the masses? If art were for the masses, wouldn’t we do a better job of keeping it in our K-12 curriculum and making sure it was funded? If, as an artist, you priced your artwork for the masses, you might just stay in the poorhouse.
It could increase Museum membership. The Portland Art Museum director has said that this is a gamble to try to increase museum membership. Museums do this all of the time by adding on entry fees for special exhibitions. This just happens to be for a single painting. It’s a known fact that special exhibits, with their increased fees, can expand the membership ranks since members receive free entrance into all exhibits.
Museums are broke! The Portland Art Museum has faced budget cuts and staff layoffs in the past year. As a former museum curator and educator, I know that museum staff give 110% to their jobs for not a lot of pay. We need to be sure that our cultural heritage is looked after by qualified people. I’m not sure how many museums in the UK are publicly funded (many of you mentioned the free UK museums in your comments), but very few in the US are publicly funded and none that I know of are 100% funded by government. They might get a smidgeon of funds from city, state, county, or federal entities, but even the Smithsonian isn’t completely funded by the feds. And Congress seems to be always trying to take some funding away! That’s why Smithsonian museums are in states of disrepair. With giving way down, someone has to pay for the expenses of interpreting, storing and showing art--not to mention electricity, groundskeeping, cleaning, and so forth. It is darned expensive to keep the doors of a museum open!
Someone noted in the comments that they might pay the $17 if it were a fundraiser for a charity. Well, isn't an art museum a solid charitable cause?
Museums are cheap entertainment! You can spend all day in a museum for a single price. You can probably even leave and return the same day for that same price. I don't think people value this experience enough. And perhaps we never will. For many people, it will never be worth the price to view art, just as for others, it wouldn't be worth the cost to attend a monster truck rally.
The Portland Art Museum said it will spend $200,000 to exhibit the work. This doesn’t include the undisclosed loan fee it will pay the Italian government. I doubt seriously that the Museum will make any money from this venture. Special exhibits are rarely cash cows for museums.
The Portland Art Museum is offering free viewings, although it’s unclear as to how many times La Velata will be able to be seen without charge. The gallery may be packed during times, but it will be free.
As Alison Ellett wrote, “Cheaper than a trip to Florence.” (Loved this!) The press release notes, “The Italian government must approve every loan, for example, and private institutions usually are excluded from consideration. Casellati says La Velata has been on loan out of Italy once, possibly twice.” So you either see it this go around or pack your bags and head to Italy. (It will also travel to the Nevada Art Museum and Milwaukee Art Museum.)
Would you pay $20 to see a baseball game or attend a concert? Michael Tyler said “It’s less than a movie with popcorn and coke.” Maybe it has to do with the amount of activity. If you value things that take up more time, you might not think it was worth an extra $5 to see a painting for 30 minutes.
Might be a brilliant marketing ploy. People often value things more when they pay more.
I love the fact that only 25 people at a time (at most) will be allowed into the painting’s gallery.
What an opportunity to see what was once considered the most beautiful painting in the world--Raphael’s response to Leonardo’s Mona Lisa! Sounds like a cheap thrill to me.
So, forgive my huge blunder of saying that the $17 was in addition to the general admission to the museum. Now that you know it's just $5 more, does your opinion change?
Create a business card in Photoshop--online Photoshop workshop for artists starts 6/29 http://is.gd/1Ce56
Per @robertgenn -- "Brushes" is an iPhone app you can use to make mini digital paintings.
#dekooning always in doubt (pg 322) about his painting. Is it better to doubt or be sure? Can you ever be sure?
Just figured out I've done workshops or keynotes in 20 states. What's up with the other 30? How about NM, MO, MN, GA ???
Working on press release for San Francisco workshop--November 14. Stay tuned for details.
Art Calendar studio makeover contest ends 7/31. $10K in prizes. http://bit.ly/voNEK
RT @LFerrenBayer Need to buy a printer $400 max. that uses archival ink and can print on a variety of papers, inc. w/c.>>Can anyone help?
RT @Loriwords: RT @clintavo: Lori Woodward Simons explorers the usefulness of Twitter for artists http://faso.us/2j
Film satire about contemporary art gallery to be released this fall http://bit.ly/wBMgc
Try getting "Painters Painting" 2-video set thru yr library or museum. We used to have it in a museum loaner program. #dekooning
@tsitra in my #artbizclass wants to know when to take someone off your mailing list. I say "almost never". See http://bit.ly/Z2O59 You?
Demise of conversations about painting and rise of conversation about reputation signaled end of good old days at the Cedar #dekooning p.423
"Be alert to the senses. Elevate the ordinary. Art is about a heightened state of awareness."--Michael Kimmelman
As I said in earlier posts, Twitter is a social medium. You want to be friendly and have conversations. So, you reply to tweets from other people. Twitter makes this very easy.
Let’s say you’re watching your @Replies very closely, as you should be. Someone mentions you in one of their tweets, so it shows up on your @Replies page (see more about this) and you want to respond. Let me give you a step-by-step example of the process.
In this example, @Loriwords (Lori Woodward Simons) mentioned in her tweet that she just joined my affiliate program. I know this because she mentioned me by my @name and it showed up on my @abstanfield page (see more about this). This is what it looks like there.
If I put my cursor over her tweet, I see a star and an arrow on the right.
The star is to make this a Favorite tweet and the arrow is to reply to what she wrote. When I click on that arrow and Twitter takes me to the update form and automatically enters @Loriwords at the beginning of my tweet. You can see, too, that it takes up 11 characters since it shows I have only 129 characters remaining for that tweet.
I type in my response and click on the update button and voila!
It appears on my page and on the @page of @Loriwords.
Make your replies even more helpful (to you and others)
Note in the example that I didn't just say "Thanks!" to Lori. If I had wanted to do that, I would have sent her a Direct Message (DM) because only she would know why I was sending her a thank-you tweet. Because my followers will also see what I wrote, they would have no idea why I was thanking Lori.
In my reply, I thanked Lori for joining my affiliate program. That could lead my followers to think "Gosh, I didn't know Alyson had an affiliate program. I should get in on this!" To help expedite the process of becoming one of my affiliates, I also added the link to the ArtBizCoach.com Affiliate Program page.
Whenever you reply to a tweet, be clear on what you're replying to so that others can join in the conversation. Either retweet (see #5 on that post) what they originally wrote or add words that explain what you're talking about.
***One last thing: You don't have to reply to tweets only when they mention you. Reply whenever you have something to add to the conversation.
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The Portland Art Museum plans to charge $17 for visitors to see a single painting this fall: La Velata by Raphael, which will be on loan from the Palatine Gallery in Florence.
That’s not $17 admission to the Museum. That’s $17 in addition to whatever else you choose to see while you’re there. Children under 17 and all school tours will be free. The Museum will also provide a free evening.
Is $17 a fair price to see this single painting by Raphael?
(I’ll try to follow up this post with the pros and cons of such a move, so talk to me . . . )
Every Twitter user starts out with a similar dilemma: What can I say in 140 characters or less that will be interesting to my followers and help me gain new followers?
Above all, aim for variety in your tweets. Here is a menu to start with, but there is plenty more to share with Twitterdom.
1. Funny Tweets
Everyone loves to smile and to laugh. Share a link to a funny video, repeat a funny quote, or reveal your own sense of humor. Even better if it is related to art.
2. Inspirational Tweets
Ditto everything I said under #1.
3. Helpful Resources
This is a biggie! The more you can help people, the more they will return the favor and help you build a following. Because Twitter is social, being helpful earns you extra credit and more friends. Recent tweets I’ve seen included coupon codes, sales on art supplies and marketing materials, and useful articles.
4. Questions and Opinions
Ask questions of your own because people love to give their opinions! Answer questions because you want to be part of the conversation. Share what might be a controversial opinion if you really want to stir things up.
Ask questions about resources (e.g. what type of camera to purchase), ask seemingly--but fun--irrelevant questions (I just asked if it was “biggie” or “biggy” as I was writing #3 above; most said "biggie"), and ask for guidance on a marketing decision.
5. Retweet (”RT” in Twitter lingo)
Retweeting is repeating what someone else wrote. Using the RT at the beginning of your tweet followed by the person’s @name gives them credit. It also shows up in their @Replies column so they can see how kind you were. It’s a courtesy and, again, helps you make friends on Twitter. Here are some recent RTs from me.
6. Quotes
As I said above under #1 and #2, you can share funny and inspirational quotes, but you can also share thought-provoking or profound quotes. Again, even better if they are art-related, such as a critic’s opinion. Be sure to give credit to your source!
I came across--again--this quote that I love and tweeted it yesterday. It's from Kimmelman's book The Accidental Masterpiece.
7. Leads and Opportunities
If you hear of a deadline for a show, a grant, or a residency, tweet it.
8. What You're Doing
In an earlier post, I said that we don't really care what you're currently doing, but I was wrong. In his TIME magazine cover story, Steven Johnson writes:
Thanks @lisacall for bringing this to my attention in your comment.
9. Your Blog Posts or Website
Aha! We finally got to promoting your art. It’s not a mistake that it’s this far down the list. You must make friends before you can promote to them. You have to send all of the other tweets in order to “earn the right” to promote to your followers. If you were constantly promoting, you’d lose friends and followers quickly. A good rule of thumb is to promote 5-10% of the time.
Don’t just send a tweet that says “New blog post, click here: http://...” You have to entice people. Pique their curiosity so they want to click! There are thousands of new blog posts they could choose from. Why should they click on yours? What will they get as a result?
Ditto for sending tweets that say “Just posted a new work on Etsy, click here . . . “ Again, describe it. Make me curious! The more descriptive you are, the easier your tweet will be found in a search.
REMINDER: Don’t forget to use http:// in front of your URLs in your tweets. That’s the only way to make them clickable in Twitter.
I continue my Twitter tips. Leave a question in the comments and I’ll try to answer them in future posts.
Related
Try Twitter (Art Marketing Action newsletter)
Find your way around Twitter (Profile and Home)
Find your way around Twitter, part 2 (@Replies, Direct Messages, and Favorites)
