DON’T LABEL ME
Generic versus name brand and heirloom versus genetically-modified and cheese food versus cheese. The debates over what makes the grade and what doesn’t will NEVER end. In my kitchen, I read labels and I buy the very best quality that I can afford at the moment. I steer clear of any foods with scary ingredient lists, and I cross my fingers and hope my family enjoys their dinner. This Call is all about the subjective question “is it good enough?” Say some affirmations in the mirror and take the leap…
Check out this Open Call from CultureHall.com, a curated online resource for contemporary art. This isn’t a come-one, come-all, pay your cash for exposure site. You have to make the cut based on your own merit. Do you have what it takes?
OPEN CALL: CultureHall.com
Culturehall, a curated online resource for contemporary art, invites artists to submit work to an open application call. From this open call, four artists will be selected for membership and inclusion in their Spring New Artists Feature. As a member, each artist can directly share their work, accomplishments, and events with the audience of arts professionals who visit Culturehall daily.
ELIGIBILITY: Open to all artists
MEDIA: Open to all media
DEADLINE: By midnight EST of May 22, 2011
ENTRY FEE: The application fee is $35 for up to 5 images
ABOUT: Culturehall is a curated online resource for contemporary art where selected artists can share their work with curators, gallerists, collectors and other artists. They provide free artist portfolios with an easy to use set of web-based tools to make presenting art online simple and efficient. Their community of artists “consists primarily* of MFA graduates, arts professionals and teaching artists.” Membership is available by invitation or application. *Editor’s Note: Don’t let this scare you off. They are, to all their artists’ benefit, trying to build credibility with that statement; however, some of the best work I’ve ever laid eyes on is by self-taught artists. Be brave.
For complete details, visit CultureHall.com!
I love your call to artists site and I especially enjoy your attitude and your approach. Keep up the good work! My only disappointment is with the increasing number of calls for online galleries and online representation.
I realize that the world is changing and that one day the traditional “brick and mortar” gallery may be eclipsed by some sort of online equivalent. I also understand that internet galleries are innovations in their own right and that not all of these sites are scams or fly-by-night operations. Still, I have my doubts and I’m not at the point where I’m willing to pay for a juried show that resides on somebody’s computer or server.
I’m sure some of my doubts are explained by my age. There are probably a fair number of younger artists who feel quite comfortable with a purely online existence and, thus, online gallery space. Unfortunately, I’m not one of them and I’m not likely to change unless one of two things happens.
First, the quality of the current crop of online galleries has to change. Typically, these sites are poorly designed and don’t provide artists with the same kind of visual respect that a traditional gallery offers. Even the best ones (like the Culture Hall site you recently posted) have more in common with FaceBook than an art gallery.
Second, online galleries must develop a pricing system that is more realistic. When I pay twenty or thirty dollars for the opportunity to show in a gallery or a university exhibit, I’m paying for real estate that has a significant market value. Sponsors pay rent and it’s often very expensive, particularly in urban areas. The same is not true for web space which is cheap and plentiful. For the price of a single online submission, I could easily open my own online gallery and fund it for up to six months.
Maybe this situation will change. Maybe the quality of online gallery design will improve and prices will become more realistic. Hope springs eternal. For now, I’m staying put in the real world.
Thanks for listening while I type and thanks for your hard work on a great website!
Dave
Maybe the problems posed by online juried shows would be lessened if a few of the major national or regional art “institutions” stepped into the ball game. It’s really hard to sort the good from the bad without knowing who is involved in any particular online exhibit. A major art gallery or museum would lend a great deal of credibility to an online show, as would a qualified jurist with a known reputation. As far as I can tell, however, this type of institutional backing just isn’t a reality in the current market.
Dave