Internet for Artists Workshop – Day 1

Woke up early this morning wanting to blog before today’s session, so here I am.

I have to say that I am impressed by the caliber of artists in this workshop with me, visual artists in particular. As a musician, I admit to being primarily led by sounds and voices, and other random things that I hear. So for me to spend extended amounts of time experiencing visual art is delightfully refreshing! I suppose that my recent forays into video will be enhanced as well.

Not to mention that most of these artists have their online presence. The 24 of us were each chosen by lottery supposedly, but when I look at the depth and breadth of talent displayed, it makes me wonder. It doesn’t matter, though. I’m just glad to be here, in the company of ARTISTS. I needed this workshop even more than I thought!

I did get to meet the artist who I had been randomly paired with. Now that we’ve met, I can tell you that she is Shimoda Emanuel, a Harlem jewelry designer. We met for the first time during the workshop, when we each gave a 2 minute presentation on what we found when we went looking for each other online.

Shimoda and I hugged when we met, which was nice (During our break, artist Barbara Ellman told us that she gave us her “Cute Award” for that), and shared what we learned about the other’s online presence.

Since I have already built a strong online presence (and teach online marketing), Shimoda asked the question why I was in the class. At the time, I said that I wanted to learn more about generating revenue. But even now I have other reasons. For one thing, it has been incredible being in a room with artists who are actively working artists. I LOVE that! There are lots of grant recipients in the room, and I have no experience with that yet. But I will!!

It happened to be an excellent exercise to have someone research you, using just your name. Google searches for some of the artists turned up branding issues: What if you have a common name, shared by a few others? What if you don’t show up at all? It was interesting to see how a stranger may find you on Google (or not). I have a feeling that I’m about to have a fantastic weekend!

Already I’ve made some new friends: Triple Edwards is more than a triple threat with his acting, artist, musician, entertainer experiences. Alfonso Munoz (who came all the way from Puerto Rico for this workshop) taught me about Artist Statements, and Vivian Yang brought a writer’s perspective to the mix.

I’m having an awesome time. Don’t wait up!

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