Jessey Jansen's studio in Austin Texas. 

If you have some free time and access to the internet this month, consider kickstarting the new year by digitally organizing your artistic endeavors with Artwork Archive.

Taking a few hours to organize your artwork images, update titles and dimensions, and get your application packet together may seem like a bit of a task initially, but the time invested now will undoubtedly pay off in the future.

Artwork Archive's 2024 Guide to Opportunities, coupled with the handy Schedule feature, can be instrumental in this process. By utilizing these tools, you can efficiently compile a list of potential opportunities to apply for and systematically keep track of your application deadlines.

This digital organization not only streamlines your current tasks but also lays a solid foundation for the year ahead, ensuring that you're well-prepared and focused on your artistic goals. Investing time in this digital reset at the beginning of the year is a strategic move that sets the tone for a more organized and productive creative journey throughout the upcoming months.

 

Optimize Your Artwork Documentation for Professional Impact

If you don’t have your artwork documented yet or feel like your documentation is of uneven quality, it’s a good investment in your practice to take great photos or hire someone who can. Great documentation is the first step in professionalizing your practice and you can use good images on social media, your website, with business partners, and on applications. It can be a major expense, but it is an important one.

Once you have baseline documentation of your current artwork, you want to make sure that is properly sized and labeled for applications.

Most applications want 3-20 images of work that are less than 2 MBs each. You should select works that you feel represent your strengths and include detail and installation shots when applicable. If your original images are too large, resize them in Photoshop or another image editing software. As a placeholder, label your template images as Last Name, First Initial_ Title of Work_Detail/Installation (if Applicable). Always save your condensed or reduced images as copies of the original in case you need to make additional edits later. If your original images are too small or low quality, you may need to retake them.

Some applications allow video uploads directly on their portal while others will ask for Youtube and Vimeo channel links. In Artwork Archive, you can add video links associated with each artwork, so you know where to find them and how they factor into your narrative. Remember to remove or set to private any videos on your platforms that are not related to your work or not as polished as you would like.

How to get started with your artwork documentation project:

• Create an Artwork Archive account (if you haven't already). You can get started with a free 14-day trial here. Then, you can work your way through this "getting started" checklist.

• Watch a short tutorial on how to get started here.

• Add Artworks: Start adding your artworks to the database. Include details such as title, medium, dimensions, creation date, and any relevant notes. Upload high-quality images of each artwork.

• Organize Your Artworks: Create categories or collections to organize your artworks, such as by series or themes. Use tags to add additional labels or keywords for easy searchability.

• Record Artwork Details: Document additional details like provenance, exhibitions, and sales history. Include any relevant documents or receipts associated with each artwork.

• Set Up Your Profile: Fill in your artist profile details, including your bio, artist statement, and contact information. Upload a professional profile picture and an about image. You can watch this short video to learn more.

• Generate Reports: Explore the reporting tools provided by Artwork Archive. Generate professional reports on sales, inventory, catalog pages and more.

Cameron Schmitz photographing artwork in her studio. 

Craft a Cohesive Artist Persona with your Statement, Bio and CV 

Now that your images are prepped and waiting, review your current artist statement, bio, and CV.

Do they match the images you have prepared?

If not, update your artist statement to more closely reflect the art you are applying to opportunities with. If your bio isn’t current, add a line at the end that brings it up to date with what is upcoming for you. Make sure your listed accomplishments are your most impressive to date. Finally, review your CV and add any new shows or upcoming awards. Save it as a PDF to preserve your print formatting and any special fonts and then remember to update the links you have to it on your Artwork Archive profile, personal website, and in any artist directories you participate in.

 

Enhance Your Digital Footprint by Updating Your Website, Public Profile and Social Media

Once the bones of your opportunity materials are updated you can turn your attention to your web presence.

Add to and update projects on your website and Artwork Archive Public Profile so it reflects your current body of work. Check all your outgoing links to make sure they are still active and ensure your email and social media links are still working— sometimes external platforms get disconnected during updates from template website services.

Some other tasks to get through when auditing and decluttering your web presence:

• Review your Public Profile and social media bios
• Consider archiving any low-performing posts or posts that no longer reflect your artistic voice
• Unfollow any accounts you don’t visit.
• Set up your Public Profile web embed to consolidate profiles and update from just one platform! 
• Delete duplicate or unnecessary files from your Artwork Archive account. (Hint: you can use the search filters for this!)
• Refresh your Public Profile by removing outdated or low-quality work, ensuring the best and most representative pieces are prominently featured, and your work is organized into Collections.
• Update your bio photos across your online profiles.
• Google yourself (for the strong stomached only). Find any forgotten artist registries or listings you added yourself to, refresh your memory of past partnerships and if you find anything you don’t like, send some emails to see if it can be edited or removed from the web.

 

Declutter Your Email Inbox for Enhanced Productivity

You may never intend to fully clear out your email inbox, but you could take an hour and delete promotions and old correspondence that are no longer relevant to your practice. No one needs 10,000+ emails … but you understandably might not want to take the time to sit there and click through to get rid of them.

This is an ideal multi-tasking errand for standing in line at the grocery store or waiting for the train.

Or, you can use a few handy tricks to mass delete emails that are no longer relevant. For example, you can type in "is:unread" in the search bar and hit Enter." to get all of your unread messages. You can then select all and delete or archive them. You can also search for and mass delete emails before or between certain dates in gmail using this simple phrase in the search, "before:YYYY/M/D" (replace YYYY/M/D with the desired date, such as 2024/01/01."

If you have an email newsletter, and in 2024 you really should manually add anyone who you’ve swapped business cards with or who signed up in person to be added at a show or fair.

 

Digital organization serves as a powerful catalyst for a successful artistic year.

From Artwork Archive's strategic tools to optimizing documentation, crafting a cohesive artist persona, enhancing the digital footprint, and decluttering, these tasks lay the groundwork for a well-prepared and focused creative journey in 2024.

Remember that being an artist is a marathon, not a sprint. If these digital reset tasks overwhelm or irritate you, instead of tackling them all this month, you can divide them up to complete over weeks or months.

With less clutter and more clarity, these tasks help to set the stage for a year filled with productivity, organization, and artistic fulfillment.

You can get started organizing your digital files, photos of your artwork and more using Artwork Archive's free 14-day trial.  And, learn more about how to get started with the platform below.