The following blog was
written before the election results. I have to say that more than ever we need
a way to pull the community together and art has enormous power to do just
that. The arts are fabulous because they are diverse and because art is a great
way to show respect to all people. Being inclusive and transparent are
cornerstones of San Diego Visual Arts Network. Please remember us in your year
end donations.
Falling behind puts you ahead
There are so many times in
our high tech lives where we feel we are not keeping up. But I have two
instances which demonstrate that sometimes, falling behind puts you ahead.
The San Diego Visual Arts
Network (SDVAN www.sdvisualarts.net)
was constructed in 2003 and the coding that was used for the site is very old
fashion as 13 years on the internet is a lifetime. Even when the site was
updated about 5 years later, there was still no drop down sub-menus attached to
the top menu bar. Little did we know that drop down menus are not very
accessible on smart phones. So now even
though the home site is not the most user friendly on a smart phone, you can
access all of our information.
AND our brand new app at www.sdvan.net/app is completely smart phone
ready and easy to access. So if you are wondering how to find wonderful art at
any time, just access the app, it will locate you and tell you about events
near by and locate them on a map for you with directions on how to get
there.
Have you been as annoyed
as we have with pop up ads on the internet? We have started to use ad blockers
and that helps eliminate them. It turns out that so many people are using ad
blockers that the advertisers are really worried about dropping sales and the
sites that rely on their revenue may be starting to be in trouble. Although we
don’t know what the future will bring, advertisers will probably find a way
over this hurdle. But on SDVAN, we never
have put up ads to support the site. We raise funds through private donations,
so you will never be annoyed by ads on our site. Nice to know we did something
right, right from the beginning.
Help us continue this
service to you and the community who knows how vital the arts are to the health
of our region. We hope you will join in on Tuesday November 29, and give big to
our 100% volunteer organization.
Art to Spare
In this season of giving,
let’s think a bit about exploring the possibility of giving away some art. You
might be thinking about this if and when your art storage is full to
overflowing or if you have to downsize to a smaller space or maybe you are just
worrying about what will happen to your art if something happens to you?
Two options have come to
my attention lately. One is to announce to friends and family that you have art
that needs a foster home. They choose which works to adopt and sign an agreement
that they will give the artist two weeks notice if the space becomes
unavailable. The artist will give a month’s notice if the work is needed.
The other option is to
think about donating your art to a non-profit facility that needs enlivening.
Art has the ability to change lives and placing your art in a care center of
some kind could be healing not only for the residents but for the staff as
well.
These schemes have pros
and cons. The obvious pro is that larger numbers of people will see your work
than if is stuck under a bed, in a dark closet or in an expensive storage unit.
You could save money and even find new clients. There could be a possibility
that when you want the work back, the fosterer will be willing to pay to keep
it. The main con could be that giving away your work might undermine the sales
value of the work you are still marketing.
So these options might be
best for those artists who are at the end of their career and wondering what
will happen to their life’s work, especially if they do not have a knowledgably
relative to inherit. Or maybe for artist who are socially conscious and have
the funds available to support themselves without sales.
With thanks to Anne
Mudge who told me about art fostering and Jan
Phillips who reported on Ruth Westriech
who has an art for donation explanation on her website.
