Have you noticed a few changes lately on Side Arts? Some are basic technical improvements. Other changes are to indicate more clearly our social equity mission.
Check out the new mission statement
Side Arts fosters a conversation on social equity in the arts including diversity, inclusion, affirmation, justice, access, mental health wellness, safety, and consent. A global community of visual artists use Side Arts to search verified calls for artists (exhibition and income opportunities) and promote their art.
Notice that the conversation on social equity comes first. As it should. This is our why – our reason for being.
Our how resides in the content created and shared by the global community of visual artists, art organizations, and art supporters that use Side Arts. Lastly, our what is a call for artists listing and art promotion service.
Although not a perfect definition and not all encompassing, we define social equity as the advancement in diversity, inclusion, affirmation, justice, mental health wellness, access, safety, and consent.
Responsibility
We feel that it is our social responsibility as a public facing organization that shares content to take an active role in pursuing social equality. As a matter of fact, we believe that all organizations should take this as a basic responsibility. This is the bare minimum for existing in the public realm.
We have added questions into all our content forms to reflect this. Albeit not mandatory. We cannot and should not force our beliefs on others. We ask those promoting calls for artists what their organization is actively doing to promote social equity. If applicable, we ask how the opportunity they are sharing promotes social equity. On the artist side, we ask how their art promotes social equity.
Lastly and over the next few months, we’ll start reaching out to social equity thought leaders and publishing our conversations with them on our blog.
Call out
All artists and organizations should take promoting social equity as a basic responsibility. No step is too small. No act is too great.
The traditional view of the artist is that of the second class citizen, incompetent and maladjusted. Their work is a past time, activity for children or seniors, or expressly therapeutic. We can’t change traditions, but we can change the meaning and purpose.
We have taken the challenge to do the right thing. It’s not easy. We’ll probably alienate some of our clientele but, if that’s the case, we don’t want them anyway.
What will you do? Will you take a stand even if it’s an uncomfortable situation? Help us share our message. Share this post with other organizations, news, and friends.
Let’s grow, together.
-Todd Hestand, Founder, Side Arts
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In this video, we discuss the one thing for which artists are responsible.
We can’t choose how society views artists but, as artists, we can choose how we view ourselves.
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Side Arts founder, Todd, welcomes you to Side Arts and describes one important rule.
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Side Arts community,
This month’s site updates – January 2016 include:
- We focused on improving the performance of the site. Some users had noted that the page loading speed had decreased, so we updated and optimized the code.
- We’re testing some new code for the listing submission forms. Some users noted that the form cut off before the bottom, this has been fixed.
- All forms are secure and we have added our provider’s seal of approval.
- The search category for active versus expired has been moved to the next to the top of the search categories since it is the most used category after location.
What’s coming soon?
- Updating the email delivery features for basic members.
- Automated billing reminders.
- Text alerts for professional users.
We do our best to test all updates prior to going live, but sometimes bugs slip past us. If you see any errors or have any suggestions, report them to mail@sidearts.com (or use the new customer service widget).
Thank you for your ongoing support.
-Todd and the Side Arts team
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We surveyed over 1000 basic, premium, and non-member artists. The results will surprise you!
On average, Side Arts Premium members earn 20% more art income annually by using the Premium search and save features, proving that Side Arts pays for itself and then some.
Our unique, advanced search and alert features stands out when compared to Basic members who earn just 3% more art income annually searching Side Arts manually.
The breakdown of the percent of art income earned is as follows:
- Exhibitions – 71%
- Vendor events – 11%
- Requests for proposals – 9%
- Competitions – 6%
- Grants and fellowships – 3%
Members say they are more than likely to recommend Side Arts to a friend.
Artists responded that the most important factors of calls for artists are ranked in the following order:
- Earn more art income
- Trusting the opportunity
- Saving time while searching
Artists say:
- “No other service has this unique level of search and save features. I find exactly what I need.”
- “Excellent! Can’t get enough.”
- “Great service, promises exactly as delivered.”
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Great question from a member, Tara Holl, this week: How do I screen out expired or active listings?
Side Arts only posts new, active listings from our clients – no duplicates and no passed listings.
- Use the Active category to see only current listings.
- Use the Expired category to see only listings which have passed their deadline. This is a great way to research clients that have offered listings in the past.
- Use the other categories to refine your search by location, type of call, award amount, and so on.
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This weeks’s updates includes separating out the residencies into their own category.
As a reminder, anyone that offers recommendations for bug fixes or new features that are implemented will receive free listings or a few months of professional membership. Send your ideas to mail@sidearts.com.
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SideArts community,
This month, we introduce:
- Social sign-in. Use your social networks (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter) to sign in to SideArts. That’s one less password to remember!
- Upgraded social sharing feature. It is easier to share your favorite listings on Facebook and Twitter.
- Fix: Password recover feature. This was a bit buggy, but we have it straightened out.
What’s coming soon?
- Automated billing reminders.
- Text alerts for professional users.
We do our best to test all updates prior to going live, but sometimes bugs slip past us. If you see any errors or have any suggestions, report them to mail@sidearts.com (or use the new customer service widget).
Thank you for your ongoing support.
-Todd and the SideArts team
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Side Arts community,
Some members have reported difficulty with the password reset/retrieval feature. If you are unable to recover your password, please email mail@sidearts.com. We will reset and resend your password for you.
Our tech heads are working on the issue and should have it resolved soon.
Thank you for your patience.
-Todd and the Side Arts team.
Update 5 Nov 2015: Password reset has been fixed.
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SideArts community,
This month, we introduce:
- Improved customer service support – use the question mark in the lower right to send questions and make suggestions.
- Updated Emerging and Professional-level artist icons on profiles
- Updated and clearer member sign-up page.
What’s coming soon?
- Automated billing reminders.
- Text alerts for professional users.
We do our best to test all updates prior to going live, but sometimes bugs slip past us. If you see any errors or have any suggestions, report them to mail@sidearts.com (or use the new customer service widget).
Thank you for your ongoing support.
-Todd and the SideArts team
