Agency News

New on MaineArts.com: Enhanced directories, new program-specific forums

MaineArts.com is getting even better! The Maine Arts Commission has just added several enhancements as well as new features to help put the spotlight on existing installations and encourage the sharing of information between artists and the agency. To learn more about these features, we caught up with Lisa Veilleux, technology/website associate at the Maine Arts Commission.

	Maine Arts Comission Website

The features include the Percent for Art directory, the directory of artists and organizations, and the online forums. “The Artists and Organizations Directory is not new, just enhanced,” Veilleux said. “To provide one image with each directory listing, gives artists greater visibility. The Maine Arts Events Calendar, Opportunities Directory and Press Release sections also have been revamped.”

The Percent for Art Directory is brand new. “The Maine Arts Commission wanted to do something special to celebrate 25 years of the Percent for Art program,” she said. “This was put into the phase II website plan. However, it took time to complete due to research, development and funding issues. The agency is now 27 years into the program and this new area of the website will showcase all Percent for Art projects since the inception of the program.”

The Percent for Art directory will have a wealth of information, showcasing each site with location and owner details, artists commissioned, details of the art installations, map and driving directions, links to more information on the artists and most importantly, images of the installations. It includes a searchable directory of Percent for Art sites throughout Maine. “I think it will be a tourism attraction not only for those in Maine but also those coming to Maine interested in public art,” said Veilleux.

Still to come are Online Forums, which will be program specific to encourage peer-to-peer collaborations. According to Veilleux, “We have had many requests from our constituents to provide communication tools specific to grant or program needs. Complaints are that they are continually reinventing ways of doing project work and it would be nice to learn from others, be it their mistakes or successes.” Veilleux hopes the forums will “open dialog among like groups of people, give them a tool to ask questions and provide information and much needed assistance to each other. Best of all, they will be archived for those that were not participating and joined at a later date.” The Online Forums will be launched in the near future.

The changes to MaineArts.com will not end there, however. Veilleux is also working on additional features such as online rotating art shows to feature artists throughout the site, images connected to an artist’s directory listing and a connection from an artist’s directory listing to the Percent for Art projects.

MaineArts.com is not the only place where visibility will be improving for Maine artists. It is also happening onsite at the Maine Arts Commission’s office building. “We now have two 48-inch plasma screens that are running rotating art shows — one in the lobby and one in the Maine Arts Commission’s conference room,” she said. “We will alternate shows on a daily basis. Shows will consist of images of all artists, youth arts, Maine Arts Commission program awardees and other program related showcases. The agency goal is to increase the visibility of all programs and the arts in Maine.”

Maine’s artists also will be able to reach wider audiences on their own by using the free marketing tools that are available to them. By simply setting up an account with MaineArts.com, artists will be able to access many marketing tools such as posting press releases, announcing events, and being listed in the online artists and organizations directory.

There are also a number of email listservs available to speed arts and cultural information to the constituents. They can be easily tailored, allowing a user to pick and choose the type of information and frequency of emails.

Guides to using the marketing tools and email listservs are available at MaineArts.com.

Watch for future issues of the MaineArtsMag to get the latest on additional MaineArts.com enhancements.