Web site brings the world to Bay Area Artists
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Artist Resource is a unique art organization that exists only online. Instead of marketing art on the Web to make a profit, Artist Resource offers career development, opportunities, tools and techniques to artists and writers. Our information is not global. It is useful, local and current. Our mission is to educate, connect, nurture and promote Bay Area artists and writers. Our hope is to grow a community of creative minds.

      Begun as an art exhibit mailing list in mid-1997, news of the site quickly spread through the art community by word-of-mouth. We now attract a diverse range of visitors, including aspiring and established artists, designers, writers, students, teachers, gallery owners, art lovers and patrons, mostly from Northern California, but a significant number from all over the world. Without funding, completely supported by volunteers, Artist Resource now serves over 30,000 members of the Bay Area art community each month.

      Unlike the proliferation of online galleries who market art work to the public, Artist Resource helps established and aspiring artists and writers by offering classes, event calendars, gallery contacts, competitions, publicity, and forums for discussion. Our most popular pages are the job listings for artists, designers and writers. Swimming against the tide of global networking, our focus is centered on the Bay Area, ensuring that we list current, important information for our community.

      The Internet has provided a perfect growth medium for low-overhead, high-profile organizations, whose sites often seem to be a tangle of software and images. But Artist Resource's structure has been kept simple. No animation, streaming sound or other slow-loading features are used that might prove an obstacle to visiting artists and patrons. (We may use these features when the issue of bandwidth has been resolved.)

      Its Internet location makes the site an accessible resource 24 hours a day. There are no membership dues and artists are never charged a fee to list their exhibits, events and classes, many of which are publicized nowhere else. We also offer free weekly email digests of upcoming Bay Area arts events, classes, jobs and competitions which are sent to over 900 subscribers.

      Founded by Li Gardiner, a San Francisco-based fine artist, designer and teacher, Artist Resource is completely supported by volunteer staff, including web designers, illustrators, writers, agents, fine artists, public relations and systems administration professionals and students. Our staff is a virtual community with members in Northern California, Los Angeles, Houston, Portland and New York. In exchange for their commitment, staff members and contributors get an online portfolio to promote their work.

Recent Additions: Our most recent additions to Artist Resource are six interactive forums: Survival Tips for Artists, moderated by artist and career coach Yarrow Summers; The Digital Artist, moderated by artist/teacher Li Gardiner; Legal Information for Artists, moderated by attorney/painter Kevin Dunn; Censorship and Arts Funding, a discussion and survey to gather support for public arts funding; Locate an Artist; and The Artist's Way, where artists can start or find groups for creative development.
      We now offer Portfolio Services. We will construct and host affordable portfolio web pages for artists who want online visibility but are unable to launch their own websites.

Here are a few comments from visitors:

• "Thanks to your information, I have found a studio . . ."
  
• "Your service is of great value and is read weekly. . . ArtSpan is very pleased to receive your updates on upcoming arts events in the Bay Area. . ."   -- artspan@sirius.com (Nila Rogosin), Program Manager, ArtSpan
  
• ". . . the best site for artists I've seen on the web. . . The graphics are very effective. The layout is well designed and easy to use. The information is very thorough! Thank you. . .!" lamaga@earthlink.net (Monica Praba Pilar)
  
• "I rarely see this kind of immediately-appropriate information; it is especially interesting to me because I am a new computer owner." fluffy@igc.org (Lee Binswanger)
  
• I was able to enter and be accepted in the Bay Arts show due to the information from Artist Resource." Ken Sakatani 
  
• "The information has been extremely useful to me and especially for my graduating students who are looking for galleries, studios, and all-around support. . . As a fine artist it's a difficult world to exist in and we need all the support we can get. . ." ED34Sculpt@aol.com

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CONTACT : not for publication -- press contact only:

Online Publicity: Darrell Knigge dknigge@techlandcreations.com 

Director: Li Gardiner, Director@artistresource.org

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URL: http://www.artistresource.org/