Our artist submissions on this Halloween have been frightfully delightful!
See more great art, ghosts and all, over on our tumblr.
– Karen
This week our tumblr Thursday artist submission feature has rounded up some great works including grown crystal sculptures to crystalline lilies!
See more dazzling works every day, all day, here.
– Karen
Lately the tumblr-sphere has been abuzz with this Anya Gallaccio installation we posted on our tumblr.
Put your busy life on pause and take a moment to view Red on Green: the life and death of 10,000 roses, and other attention-grabbing works here.
– Karen
This mirrored sculpture by Arran Gregory may depict a lone wolf, but this alpha dog is certainly not lonely!
Discover the good company Gregory’s wolf is keeping on our tumblr here.
-Karen
Our tumblr followers have enjoyed viewing these fractured portraits by Benjamin Garcia this week.
Want more unexpected visual treats? Check out our tumblr.
– Karen
As the very first intern to join the Slow Art Day team back in August of 2012, I’ve seen the social media strategy for our organization evolve from the ground up. From completely revamping our Tumblr page, to becoming active again on Facebook and Twitter, we’ve grown our online presence exponentially in just over a year, thanks to our hard-working social media team of just under 10 interns and volunteers.
One our strongest beliefs at Slow Art Day is that art is truly for everyone, and our social media channels reflect that. Our Facebook page provides a daily dose of interesting artwork into your newsfeed, while our Tumblr blog showcases not only art by well-established names, but also features young and emerging artists who submit their work for our weekly “Tumblr Thursdays.”
We’re planning some exciting contests and giveaways in the future, so make sure to stay up to date on all our social media channels, whether we’re welcoming and announcing new venues on Twitter, sharing host reports and interviews on our blog, or posting thought-provoking and inspiring pieces of art on our Facebook and Tumblr.
If you like what you see, feel free to drop us a line – we always love feedback!
Alie Cline
Social Media Manager
Slow Art Day may still be months away, but that doesn’t stop our tumblr from continuing to share engaging and provoking art to a growing community of followers!
The dedicated Social Media team for our tumblr have unveiled a new institution to help foster Slow Art Day’s involvement in the tumblr Art community by supporting budding artists.
“Tumblr Thursdays,” replacing “Themed Thursdays,” which similarly encouraged follower participation in submitting relevant art for each theme, continues this outreach to the community. Artists can now submit their original work to be shown to a wide and diverse audience through our movement’s efforts.
The above gallery showcases the inaugural crop of many talented artist submissions that will be published. For further information on the artist click on each image for relevant links.
You can see the work selected for each Tumblr Thursday here.
[Slow Art Day Social Media Manager Alie Cline recently interviewed Willa Koerner from the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art to chat about the museum’s new Slow Art Day inspired project, SFMOMAslow.]
Slow Art Day: First, introduce yourself for us – what do you do at SFMOMA?
Willa: I’m Willa Koerner, SFMOMA’s Digital Engagement Associate. I manage SFMOMA’s social media accounts, from planning, writing, and editing posts, to documenting the goings-on of the museum, to collaborating with co-workers on digital projects and online engagement initiatives.
Slow Art Day: How did you initially hear of Slow Art Day? What sparked your interest in the project?
Willa: I heard about Slow Art Day through the social media grapevine. My interest was sparked right from the get-go, as the idea of looking/thinking slowly is fascinating when contextualized within the incredibly manic pace of the Internet.
Slow Art Day: How did the idea for SFMOMAslow initially develop, and how have you expanded on “Slow Art Day” and turned it into a larger project?
Willa: In collaboration with Suzanne Stein, SFMOMA’s Head of Community Engagement (and manager of SFMOMA’s blog, Open Space), I’ve been working on ways to get people talking with the museum in exciting, interesting ways through crowd-sourced projects hosted on a special Tumblr (SFMOMAcrowd). Hosting successful user-generated projects can be a bit difficult, and we’ve seen firsthand how challenging it can be to generate interest/response to a project prompt, no matter how interesting that prompt may seem to us within the museum. In my opinion, this is due to a simple truth: people don’t want to spend their valuable time creating something unless there is an explicit reason to participate, or a reward. Knowing this, we wanted to pursue a prompt that would ultimately lead to a rewarding and satisfying experience for all types of participants. The Slow Art Day concept fit this desire perfectly, so we decided to create a whole slew of programming, tweaking the idea so that it would be interesting to those who can visit the gallery in person as well as those who may prefer to participate remotely.
Slow Art Day: What has the response been like?
Willa: People have seemed genuinely excited about (and possibly thankful for) the idea of #SFMOMAslow/Slow Art Day. It is an invitation to relax and appreciate life, isn’t it? In terms of participation with the crowd-sourced project more people prefer to watch than to join in, I think, but those folks who have taken the leap and participated seem to have truly valued the experience. One person ended her post with, “ I feel as if [looking slowly] sharpens perception because there is a very deep meditative quality to it! Thank you!” That made me smile.
Slow Art Day: How do you think “slow” art fits into our fast-paced, modern world?
Willa: I see Slow Art Day and the challenge to truly look slowly as a bit of an intervention. People move so quickly and rush through experiences that would be much more magical when taken in at a slower, more contemplative pace. I wish I didn’t, but I too am guilty of senselessly rushing through all sorts of experiences — it’s the curse of having endless access to information and ideas, and seemingly thing after thing to rush off to. We joke about “FOMO” [Editor’s note: “fear of missing out”] but it’s a real and problematic plague for our generation! We want to see it all, do it all, and share it all. Slow looking is a way that we can re-learn how to think critically and be patient with ourselves and our minds.
Slow Art Day: We couldn’t agree more! Finally, what are you most looking forward to on Slow Art Day itself?
Willa: I’m closing my eyes and imagining Slow Art Day at SFMOMA… in my mind, I see myself smiling a lot and enjoying a rewarding day filled with compelling art, perceptive people, and intriguing conversation. Stay tuned for my tweets on that Saturday — I’ll be using the #SFMOMAslow hash tag!
And, before I sign off, I want to extend huge thanks to Alie, my interviewer, and everyone who volunteers to help spread the ideas of Slow Art Day to people around the world! You guys are doing a terrific job.
Slow Art Day: Thanks, Willa! We very much appreciate all the hard work you are putting in to spreading the idea of slow art as well.
[If you’re in the San Francisco area, make sure to check out SFMOMA’s Slow Art Day event and learn more about SFMOMAslow through their tumblr, SFMOMAcrowd]
If you follow Slow Art Day on our various social media channels, you might have noticed an interesting conversation unfolding this week over whether programming like Slow Art Day can succeed in today’s fast-paced, digital environment. It all started when Sarah Bailey Hogarty from the de Young & Legion of Honor Museums looped us into a conversation happening at the 2013 Museums and the Web Conference:
Of course, we had to respond!
Which opened the floodgates for more dialogue and opinions from both sides:
While twitter is fantastic for short, 140 character thoughts, we wanted to address our thoughts on the power of slow looking in a longer format, so our Social Media Manager Alie Cline took to the Slow Art Day tumblr to respond to Koven Smith’s initial concerns about Slow Art. Focusing on the ideas of slow looking and engagement, the post details how Slow Art Day can work within digital culture, “…so people can share their insights, observations, and engage with the artwork in a way that reaches beyond just the initial reaction of “I like this” or “I don’t like this.” Make sure to check out the entire post on our tumblr!
We love the thoughtful and respectful dialogue that took place on our social media channels – make sure to follow Slow Art Day on Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr for more conversations like this one!
