One of the biggest challenges we face with an exhibition like Click! is getting the word out. Click! depends on two types of participation, initial submissions from the artist community and participation from the online community who will evaluate those submissions. Getting to word out to the artist community is critical and that means we’ve been doing a lot of leg work.
Physical card distribution is still a major method of communication throughout the Brooklyn communities. Many of the local mom-and-pop establishments like cafes and bookstores have a place for card drops and announcements. As you can see, we printed a lot of cards, so we’ve been working to get them into the neighborhoods. Happily and with the help of many staff who have taken a bunch to their local hangouts, we are now down to two small stacks!
Since this is a photography show, it seemed like a good idea put announcements in all the Brooklyn-based groups on Flickr. Instead of just posting, we wrote the administrators of each group to ask permission to do so. The admins were great about getting back to us and our postings are now in place. For those of you who have never seen the Brooklyn groups on Flickr, there’s a great online community there, so spend some time checking it out.
In addition to Flickr, there’s a strong blogging community in Brooklyn and we’ve been sending information their way. To get an idea of how large and active this community is, take a look at the blogroll at The Gowanus Lounge. Also of interest, the Brooklyn blogging community hosts a monthly blogade.
And that’s not all. There are many artist collectives in Brooklyn that we’ve been contacting and, in turn, they’ve been sending notification e-mails to their lists of artists. In addition, there are photo documentation projects for certain areas and we’ve been contacting the people running them. Take a look at What’s The Hook? and the Coney Island Documentation Project for great examples.
So, this post is a bit of thanks to all those who have helped us get the word out about our open call. If you’ve sent out e-mails, allowed us to post to your Flickr group, accepted cards, installed our widget, posted to your blog – thank you! We couldn’t do this without your help and we are happy to be neighbors!
Shelley Bernstein is the former Vice Director of Digital Engagement & Technology at the Brooklyn Museum where she spearheaded digital projects with public participation at their center. In the most recent example—ASK Brooklyn Museum—visitors ask questions using their mobile devices and experts answer in real time. She organized three award-winning projects—Click! A Crowd-Curated Exhibition, Split Second: Indian Paintings, GO: a community-curated open studio project—which enabled the public to participate in the exhibition process.
Shelley was named one of the 40 Under 40 in Crain's New York Business and her work on the Museum's digital strategy has been featured in the New York Times.
In 2016, Shelley joined the staff at the Barnes Foundation as the Deputy Director of Digital Initiatives and Chief Experience Officer.