The Times
Neil Johnson
11:08 p.m. CDT September 2, 2015
There are your artists and there are your arts patrons.
Different kinds of people. But don’t they, when you really think about it, need each other, depend on each other?
Getting
these people together is a job. Sometimes it seems like these two kinds
of people wander around in the dark and, every once in a while, bump
into each other. These encounters can become good and healthy
relationships, but there’s got to be a better way.
To use another
metaphor, it’s a jungle out there in the art-world. I’ve been in it for a
few decades, but sometimes even I need a hand to hold in both my
wanderings and my more definite journeys. I hit dead-ends and get lost
sometimes and have to backtrack to find another path to where I would
like to go.
In this jungle, artists and arts patrons both need
navigation guidance. The GoogleNet is a good place to start. There is a
solid veteran place of assistance in the intertubes of northwest
Louisiana and I have also found a new source of guidance, or at least a
good place to find advice and support in this sometimes-confusing world.
Today, we are so spoiled by the Internet. No, that’s not the right word. We have been both freed and enslaved.
The
Internet is even more revolutionary than the printing press. But I
digress. Let’s get back to the arts in northwest Louisiana and the
artists and arts patrons wandering around bumping into each other. There
are helpers who can lend us a compass and a map to guide us through the
jungle.
First, there are the Shreveport Regional Arts Council and
the Bossier Arts Council and their tools for arts hand-holding and
guidance. Go. Visit their websites. If you never have, you may be
surprised, even astounded, about how much information you can find
there.
The names of their two sites are easy to remember:
shrevearts.org and
bossierarts.org.
Shreve. Bossier. Arts. Organizations. Shrevearts and Bossierarts have
founts of information from and about these two organizations.
The
SRAC website used to have a listing of a wide array of area artists and
samples of their work. I thought it was gone, but found that it is only
gone from the SRAC site. SRAC has given it its own address:
www.nwlaartists.org. So. Many. Artists. Note that it has a page where artists can apply to be included.
If
that is not enough, there is another source of information for both
artists and arts patrons on line. It’s called “Works In Progress” and
its website is
worksinprogresslouisiana.com.
This is largely the year-old child and an ambitious venture of artist
and community activist, Debbie Lynn Hollis. It’s stated mission is to
provide financial, educational and business resources directly to
creative professionals who live/work in north Louisiana
.
Hollis
said, “This site is the ultimate culmination of business, economic
development and the cultural economy in north Louisiana.”
One of
the really cool things residing within the above website is something
called the “Creative Marketplace.” It is a pilot program co-sponsored by
Works In Progress Louisiana and the North Louisiana Art Gallery. Its
stated purpose is “to encourage greater collaboration between the
creative industries and the wider business community in north
Louisiana.” Whoa! That’s what I’m talking about!
Here’s a crucial
factor in this whole thing. Artist Michael Moore has been patiently
building a website for artists for years. He called it the Northwest
Louisiana Artist Gallery. He has now done two things with it. He has put
it under the umbrella of the Works In Progress/Creative Marketplace and
he has also decided to broaden the range to all of north Louisiana, the
step-sibling of south Louisiana that south Louisiana avoids learning
about or even talking about most of the time. So we must toot our own
horn. Louder.
Dig into the Creative Marketplace site and click on
the link to the “North Louisiana Art Gallery.” There, you will find a
way-cool presentation to learn about north Louisiana (mostly northwest
Louisiana, but heading east) artists along with samples of their work.
It’s actually fun to explore. There is also a sign-up page for artists
wanting to be included.
Websites are complex things, especially
these sites. Building sites like these are not for the faint-of-heart.
They are very difficult and extremely time-consuming to make them
effective. But the hardest part is maintaining them so they stay
relevant. It is far too easy to let a website go for too long to where
visitors wonder why they are still up. But these sites are so important
because they put artists and patrons a click or two away from each
other.
Another difficult factor with websites is driving visitors
to them. That, dear readers, is what I am trying to do with this column.
So you now have an assignment:
Go. Log on. Visit them. The addresses are right there in the paragraphs above.
Arts
patrons, these sites are extremely brief introductions to the many fine
visual artists working hard in the piney woods of Louisiana. If you are
looking for visual art and something punches your buttons, by all
means, I strongly encourage you to follow up. Contact the artist and
arrange a portfolio viewing or studio tour.
Artists, note who does
their artist page right and who does not. If your portfolio is years
out of date, update it. If you want to be in the artist site, contact
the web master. And artists, be polite to your visiting patrons. Offer
them a cup of coffee or a glass of wine. They may have brought a
checkbook.
Neil
Johnson is a photographer and host at Booth #62/64 at the upcoming Red
River Revel. He can be reached at njohnson@njphoto.com.
