By Nick Stern, Copy editor
The Artworks CNM Art Club has put together a workshop that consists of four sessions and targets the growing need for networking through social media among entrepreneurs, specifically entrepreneurial-minded artists, said Seminar Instructor Sky Carlisle.
The name of the workshop series is Social Media for Artists and consists of a three-part remote YouTube login webinar, using Google Hangouts, plus the four workshops which are held from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. in Room 120 and 122 of the Student Resource Center, on June 6 and 20, July 25, and August 1, Carlisle said.
The workshops focus on how beneficial social media can be in the development of an artist’s presence, and are directed towards helping individuals in the art community develop better knowledge and understanding of all the different social media systems, Carlisle said.
Students can get themselves seen and recognized by anyone who might be interested in what they do, he said.
“The four seminar class is geared to help create a presence for artists online, so that they can be found and so not only just be found locally but they can be found nationally. Our goal is to let people, even if they have never done it before, get introduced to a system that works to help keep them updated on trends moving forward,” Carlisle said.
Carlisle looks at the workshops as a way to build strong relationships to help artists over time and help them use the different social media systems to define and promote who they are, what they do, how they want to be seen online, and who they want to be seen online by, he said.
“So people can be found for their art and for what they want to be known for. We want to make sure we can create a relationship with each of them so that way, moving forward, we are here to help the in the long term,” he said.
Carlisle said that, though the workshops definitely benefit the artists who attend and work hard to create a substantial social identity, there is also a much bigger picture, which is that the entire community can benefit from artists becoming more stable and having more of their art seen locally, he said.
“I think the ripple effect is just like throwing a stone in a pond, because the rest of the community benefits from the fact that people can be found that we are more stable with our art. I think that art trends are coming back. We have a ton of great stuff happening now with new galleries opening, and new art from all over the place is brought here,” Carlisle said.
President of Artworks CNM Art Club, Letitia Hill, said that she and Carlisle recognized the fact that the social media of today has truly changed the way that an artist has to go about getting noticed and connected with a way to make a living, she said.
Currently it is almost impossible for an artist to be seen or heard of by anyone, unless he or she are networking properly, and that can be tough when people are spending all their time and energy on the medium that they are talented in, Hill said.
This networking necessity that has been born out of the booming expansion of social media is how the idea came up to create the workshops, Hill said, and is tough to do, but can actually be very helpful.
“It is born out of the fact that there has been a shift in how artists actually get connected with their source. We decided to host this because it just seemed to be something that was really needed in the art community,” Hill said.
The very first open seminar happened on June 6, and Hill was very thrilled with the results because many different people showed up with many different ideas and agendas, and they were all there to learn to promote themselves efficiently, she said.
Hill said that there are definitely still open seats available, and for $5 anyone can become an Artworks club member, which will also allow free entry in any of the workshops that are held throughout the rest of the year, Hill said.
“I am super stoked. I am really happy that we had so many people show up first off, and it has actually produced a great interest, especially in social media. We would love to see every chair taken,” she said.
Carlisle and Hill both agree that though the workshops are geared toward artists, anyone can come to the meetings to learn entrepreneurial skills for networking, Hill said.
“You do not necessarily have to be an artist. It is actually about entrepreneurship. It is a huge tool for entrepreneurs,” Hill said.
Anyone who is interested in the social media workshops, Artworks club, or other workshops held in the future can go to artworkscnm.wix.com/artworks or email artworkscnm@gmail. com for more information.
