2012 WESTAF Cultural Policy Symposium

♦ April 12-14, 2012     ♦ Omni Los Angeles Hotel at California Plaza ♦ Los Angeles, California

WESTAF is pleased to announce its 2012 cultural policy symposium, Engaging Data: Arts and Culture Research in the Digital Age. The symposium will bring together experts in the area of the use of arts and cultural data to discuss innovative ways for managing, analyzing, and using data.  Presenters bring expertise from a variety of fields, including: cultural economics, data visualization, economic development, and cultural policy.  Observers are welcome to attend for just $275, but space is limited.

If you have specific questions about how to register or complete arrangements to be an observer, please contact Leah Horn at (303)629-1166 or by email at: Leah.Horn@WESTAF.org.

The third annual ZAPP® Conference took place September 18-20, 2011, at the W Midtown Atlanta hotel in Atlanta, Georgia. The conference successfully brought together artists and art festival administrators to further and strengthen the arts festival community. We invite you to explore three of the most popular sessions this year.

The opening presentation, provided by multicultural communications authority Salvador Acevedo, tackled the question of remaining culturally relevant in changing communities.

Click HERE to see Salvador Acevedo’s presentation.

Drew Shope of Thrive Social Media guided attendees through discussion of why social media is important and which tools work best for arts festivals.

Click HERE to see Drew Shope’s presentation.

The Marketing for Makers session–lead by artist and arts business consultant Megan Auman–was designed for artists by an artist. Auman’s presentation touched on core sales philosophies and marketing techniques to help artists find plans in their respective sales plans.

Click HERE to view Megan Auman’s presentation.

Topics covered in this edition:

• Next WESTAF Cultural Policy Symposium Announced
• The Public Art Archive’s™ New Collection Showcase Page
• WESTAF Arts Leadership and Advocacy Seminar in Washington DC
• Coming Soon: ZAPP® Onsite

WESTAF Deputy Director Shannon Daut has been named to the position of executive director of the Alaska State Council on the Arts.  Daut will leave a 12-year tenure at WESTAF to lead Alaska’s state arts agency.  She will begin her work for Alaska on January 9.

WESTAF Executive Director Anthony Radich recognized Daut’s contribution to the work of WESTAF, noting that “Shannon has been involved in virtually every aspect of WESTAF’s growth and development over the last twelve years.  Her involvement with our work has resulted in more progressive programs, more client-friendly software projects, and more far-sighted policy development.  She has been a tremendous contributor to the success of our organization.”

Daut had a long career at WESTAF.  One of her early projects was the management of WESTAF’s ArtJob, the 24-year-old project that seeks to link jobs in the nonprofit arts with qualified job seekers.  She followed that work with the development of CallforEntry.org (CaFE™), a successful online site that was designed to bring the solicitation and adjudication of public art into the internet age.  Most recently, she conceptualized and worked on the development of Public Art Archive™, a WESTAF website that contains a highly searchable database of public art and whose goal is to showcase all the public art in the United States.  In addition to these projects, Daut has worked closely with the Western state arts agencies to advance cultural policy throughout the region and has managed a wide variety of grant programs, professional development and cultural policy convenings, and other efforts of WESTAF.

Daut holds a bachelor’s degree film studies from the University of Wisconsin, Madison and a masters degree in communication from the University of Colorado, Denver.  She is co-chair of the Create Denver Advisory Committee, a creative economy initiative of the city of Denver, and currently serves on the governing board of the National Performance Network.

For additional information, please contact Leah Horn at leah.horn@westaf.org or call 303-629-1166.

from Anthony Radich

This is the 66th in a continuing series of updates about the work of the Western States Arts Federation.

Third Annual ZAPP® Conference Wraps in Atlanta
The 2011 ZAPP® Conference was held September 18-20, 2011, in Atlanta.  The meeting featured a wide range of topics aimed at improving the administration of art fairs and buoying the success of artists selling at the fairs. Featured presenters included San Francisco-based consultant Salvador Acevedo, a leader in the field of changing demographics, who offered insights on how to attract diverse event audiences; and Crafting an MBA founder Megan Auman, a Jonestown, Pennsylvania designer, maker and educator, who presented artist marketing strategies aimed at attracting new customers and maximizing websites and social media campaigns. Additional noted speakers included Marci Rolnik of Lawyers for the Creative Arts in Chicago, who updated artists and administrators on the latest developments in copyright law affecting visual art on the Internet; and Boston-based entrepreneur Michael Salguero of CustomMade.com, an online marketplace connecting shoppers looking for fine custom items with skilled makers. For more information about the ZAPP® Conference, please contact Leah Charney at Leah.Charney@WESTAF.org.

The Public Art Archive™ Goes Mobile
The Public Art Archive™, a sophisticated, searchable online database of public art in the United States, is home to a growing number of public art collections, which you can now access from a mobile device by visiting m.publicartarchive.org in your smartphone’s browser. The new mobile site allows visitors to search for, map and obtain directions to works of public art; identify public art located near them; and share information about the works via email and Facebook.

Next WESTAF Symposium Announced
The next WESTAF symposium will be held in April of 2012 and will focus on the way data related to the arts and creative economy is collected, vetted and made available to the field.  Through its work on the Creative Vitality Index™ (CVI™) and its partnership with Economic Modeling Specialists Inc. (EMSI), WESTAF has enlarged its network to include scholars and practitioners on the cutting edge of the field.  WESTAF will bring these individuals together for a lively discussion of their work and a sharing of their perspectives on the future prospects for the collection and dissemination of cultural and creative economy data.

We are now on Twitter! Follow us using the following handles:
@WESTAF, @WESTAFCVI, @ZAPPlication, @CallforEntry, @PAArchive, @gograntsonline

For additional information, please contact Leah Horn at leah.horn@westaf.org or call 303-629-1166.

From Anthony Radich, Executive Director

This is the 65th in a continuing series of updates about the work of the Western States Arts Federation.

The Third Annual ZAPP® Conference Convenes in September
The third annual ZAPP® Conference, a professional development opportunity for those who work in the visual arts festival field (artists, event administrators and staff, promoters, and more), will take place September 19-20, 2011, in Atlanta, Georgia. Sessions at this year’s conference feature topics such as: visual arts and copyright law, best practices for jury processes from both the artist and administrator perspectives, and online marketing for artists and events using social media and other tools. The conference will also feature a symposium in which presenters will discuss ways to re-envision and strengthen the art fair business. Tracks are available for both artists and art fair administrators, free portfolio review opportunities will be available for artists, and all are welcome—this event is not just for ZAPP® users. The ZAPP® Conference registration website and official agenda can be found here: bit.ly/zapp2011. Special day-pass rates are available for Atlanta residents. To listen to the 2010 ZAPP® Conference keynote and symposium, visit bit.ly/zapp2010audio.

On-site Scoring at a ZAPP® Event on the iPad? Coming Soon!
The ZAPP® team is now developing an on-site adjudication tool for the iPad, Android tablets, and other tablet devices. With this application, jurors at fine art fairs no longer have to carry around clunky notebooks, binders, and clipboards when scoring for Best in Show and other awards on site. The ZAPP® on-site adjudication tool will allow jurors walking a show to view a map of the event and sort by medium, booth number, or artist name. This tool also frees up staff and administration time as the juror’s on-site scores can be viewed online or exported into a spreadsheet for easy record keeping. The application displays artists’ jury images for reference, and allows the juror to score and comment on an artist’s booth presentation at the art festival. The application is undergoing one last round of internal testing and will be beta tested at events this fall.

WESTAF.org’s New Look
WESTAF recently unveiled a new website. In addition to featuring a modern look and feel, the new site includes a news page with RSS functionality, upgraded navigation, updated information, and a special password- protected area for WESTAF trustees. Visit westaf.org to take a look. We hope you enjoy the new site, and don’t forget to like us on Facebook (on.fb.me/westaf) and follow us on Twitter (twitter.com/westaf).

Public Art Archive™ Update
The Public Art Archive™ is home to a growing number of public art collections. To view the collections added to the Archive to date, visit PublicArtArchive.org. If you represent an agency or other entity that manages a public art collection, please contact Public Art Archive™ Manager Rachel Cain at rachel.cain@westaf.org or by phone at (303) 629-1166 to schedule an orientation webinar and learn more about adding a collection. Currently, there is no fee associated with adding a public art collection to the Archive. Also, you can now access the Public Art Archive™ from a mobile device by visiting m.publicartarchive.org in your smartphone’s browser. Find public art on the road and at home from your phone!

For additional information, please contact Leah Horn at leah.horn@westaf.org or call (303) 629-1166.

ZAPP® Conference 2011

♦ September 19-20, 2011     ♦ The W Atlanta-Midtown Hotel   ♦ Atlanta, Georgia

Don’t miss out: Early-bird pricing ends next week!
Take advantage of two days of professional development, educational sessions, and great networking opportunities all for the low price of $265. Register for the third annual ZAPP® Conference by Wednesday, August 17 to get the early-bird rate. Register now: http://www.regonline.com/zappconference2011

This week’s featured session: Public Portfolio Critique
In this mock jury, attendees will learn how to put their best foot forward in their application according to imaging specialist Randall Smith, professional juror Jerry Gilmore, and event administrator Nichole Smith. The panel, facilitated by Cindy Lerick, will discuss each submission in terms of composition, technical presentation, and artistic presentation.

Want to submit your work for critique? Have questions to present to the panel? Go to ZAPP now and apply to the 2011 ZAPP Conference Artwork Exhibition.

Have a friend who needs to know about the ZAPP® Conference? Forward this message on and spread the word.

Yes, that’s right. We have a new website AND we joined the 21st century by getting all set up right on Facebook and Twitter. Because we offer many services and programs, we have a few different social media homes to choose from (or “like” and follow them all if you choose!):

Like WESTAF on Facebook
Like ZAPP® on Facebook
Like ArtJob.org on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter using the following handles:

@WESTAF
@WESTAFCVI
@ZAPPlication
@CallforEntry
@PAArchive
@gograntsonline

On the heels an award received by Paradowski Creative in St. Louis (a Bronze Quill award), for its design of the GrantsOnline™ (GO™) system’s logo and branded materials, the National Association of Counties (NACo) recently recognized the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs with an Achievement Award for its implementation of its GrantsOnline™ (GO™) grants management system. NACo recognized Miami-Dade County for its high caliber of county programs and projects, including its work to promote quality, efficiency, responsive management, and administration of its programs via the GO™ system. Congratulations, Miami-Dade County!

WESTAF again exhibited at and attended the 2011 Americans for the Arts annual conference this year in San Diego. In addition, we sponsored a special reception for participants in the public art preconference…