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Second Evaluation

As we come closer to the completion of the installation for the Degree Show, I feel it is time for evaluating the whole process. The effort that comes from preparing a show, both physical and emotional is great. While trying to complete the production of the pieces that are going into the show, we have to think of ways to promote them, ourselves and the course. The knowledge and the understanding that I gained over the past months of researching and evaluating promotional materials of various artists and galleries, had to be put in good use for our own purposes.

As this is a collaboration and a group exhibition, there were a lot of chances for working as a team. One of these occasions was the Instagram Takeover. Over two weeks, a team of students were given access to the Instagram account of the College’s course in order to introduce and promote all of the participating students and our work. That was a great way for us to gain some spotlight and additional audience. Even though I have an Instagram account that I use thoughtfully, with a focus on my artist’s profile, any promotion from other accounts that I could get, would translate into extra viewers looking into my work and potentially starting following my artistic journey. Social media in my opinion, can be used as a promotional tool if used correctly, however, they can be restrictive and due to the millions of users and posts, one’s work can be lost, or overlooked. It should not be the only tool from marketing but as an additional, combining ways and strategies.

Apart from that, we had the opportunity to work collaboratively to curate the exhibition, managing to solve problems that were constantly surfacing (such as the plan of the space in connection with the boards that were available), and undertook various other tasks that accompanied the installation of a show, such as proofreading the artist’s statements and making an invigilation schedule.

As another way of promoting my work, I was able to create a website under my name, for showcasing my artwork. This was a rather technical experience for me, so I had to ask for my husband’s help. I initially did some research of how I wanted the site to look and what information to add in it and we were able to achieve a decent, even though rather basic, looking result. I plan on continuing to work on it, updating it or making the necessary changes as they come up. Additionally, I was planning on creating and printing business cards to have for the duration of the Show, but after thinking it over, I decided to have instead postcards with various images of my work shown on one side and my contact details on the back. I feel it is more to my aesthetics, as whenever I find similar promotional materials in galleries or other analogous venues, I love collecting them as a memento of my visit.

Overall, I am pleased with the outcome of this module. It pushed me outside of my comfort zone, being more proactive on social media, marketing myself and my work and taking part in organising the exhibition. I am sure mistakes were made, but that is part of the process. As a result, I gained some knowledge and understanding over the whole experience that I could use in the future.

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Promoting the Degree Show on Instagram.

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Business cards

I was designing my business cards, when I started thinking that I am not very fond of that idea. To all the exhibitions that I have been, I almost never saw any business card of the artist with the other promotional materials. I always prefer taking away with me, something that would remind me of the works that I have viewed. For that reason, I decided to print some postcards with a few good quality photos of my work and my contact details on the back that the viewers can see and maybe have a better use of them.

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www.evievangelou3.wordpress.com

My website, very basic, but still an online presence and portfolio, is getting ready and I would continue to update it with every new work, or news

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Floor planning for the spaces on the second floor of the college. Every space would be 2.4 wide, so we needed to figure out how we could accommodate all the students from both courses, Design and CAP making the whole area accessible, safe and with an easy flow for the viewers.

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A very interesting meeting and talk from GI Festival. Richard Birkett, festival director and Poi Marr, curator came to speak to us about the festival and curatorship in general. Various interesting points and tips were made, such as the change in the dynamic of the festival depending on the director and the importance of volunteering in order to get into the venues and organisations.

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Students meeting for organising the physical Degree Show. Roles are being distributed and jobs and deadlines realised. My main contribution is being part of the team that is responsible for the proofreading of the artist's statements as well as invigilating the days that I am free. First step is done and next we need to meet with Design students and staff from both courses for more details.

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My photos and statement for the Instagram takeover promotion. Knowing the power of the social media, I understand the importance of my presence for promoting my work.

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Instagram takeover. Each student had three photos of the work that is being prepared for the Show and an artist's statement shown on the Instagram course account of the college for a specific time as part of the promotion.

#Instagram

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Useful information and links taken from The Artist's Guide to Selling Work book by Annabelle Ruston

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Evaluation

Being an artist is a role that involves multitasking and undertaking various tasks. As well as being a researcher and maker of creative work, there is also the role of promoter, curator, researcher of appropriate venues for exhibiting, being responsible for the finances and many more. It is critical for the success and the development of an artist’s professional practice to have the knowledge to complete all these tasks. Most artists find this frustrating and time consuming, nevertheless it is essential.

While preparing the artwork or our Degree Show, at the same time it is required of us and necessary to investigate the appropriate ways of promoting and marketing ourselves as artists as well as our work. Since this is a collective show, there will be a lot of collaboration between the students as well as individual efforts in order to create a successful exhibition.

The first stage comprised of researching available exhibitions to gain an insight of the various ways of the set-up, the promotional materials such as the brochures, the artists statements and information about the works that are being displayed. As well as the physical visit of the galleries, it is very helpful to investigate the online presence and marketing of the exhibitions and the artists. In nowadays, it is equally important for the artist and the curator to have available sufficient online evidence of their work. From these investigations, the results were mixed. There were some great elements such as the artists books, or the quality of the content of the leaflets but at the same time, there were some disappointed points for me, such as the lack of information on a few artworks (Talbot Rice Gallery, for instance and the work of Nira Pereg).

For achieving the professional standards, I would need to create and keep updated a website that would work as a portfolio, an online presence, in combination with the social media approach and a way of professional contact. I realize my technical weakness in this field, but also my lack of willingness in the whole marketing and promoting aspect, however, I understand the importance of them and I am trying to overcome my own barriers and put extra effort in this.

At this stage, I do not have the details of the work that I am creating for the show, whether I would need wall space or the specific measurements and the number of the pieces that I would have ready, therefore, I cannot plan the space that I would need. Over the next weeks I will have a clearer view and after meetings and discussions with my fellow students and in collaboration with the tutors regarding the available space, and various technical issues, a clearer plan of the space will be created.

I recognize that so far, all the effort is put in researching and producing the pieces and less in the research of galleries and their marketing materials. As we come closer to the date of the exhibition, I believe the focus would be equally balanced between both fields, the creating and the planning.

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Residency opportunity for the summer

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Creative Scotland has a very informative website and the section with the opportunities is particularly helpful.

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An important step, to have a website. It works as a portfolio, a business card, shows professionalism.  

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Cass Art has an online section devoted to events, exhibition and competition open calls for artists that is very useful.

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Opportunity from the Scottish National Gallery for exhibiting

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The Schoolhouse is an old Victorian school that has been restored very well, keeping some of the original elements still visible. Mainly it is been used as commercial space but there are areas that would work for an exhibition, such as the staircases that are full of potentials.