Artwork Archive subscribers with Collection and Organization plans can feature many different artists on their public profiles, in private rooms, and—in the case of Organizations—in their public exhibitions.
Adding as much detail and background information to an artist's contact record will auto-populate their profile when you publish their artwork to the web.
This provides a more dynamic experience for anyone visiting your page and is a best practice when featuring artists in public exhibitions and/or in private rooms.
There are two ways to enter artist contacts into the Artwork Archive system:
The artist contact is created automatically when you upload a 'New Piece' by that artist and will automatically be labeled as an 'Artist' under 'Association.' You can then click into their contact record and enter their date of birth (and death, if applicable), their biography and nationality, as well as social media links and their website.
The artist contact can be created manually by clicking into the 'Contacts' tab on the left-hand menu and inputing all their details. In this example, you should manually check the 'Artist' box under 'Association,' so they are appropriately categorized, and then enter their biography and respective details.
Now, when you filter your contacts by 'Relation' and select 'Artist', all contacts labeled as 'Artist' will be displayed.
Because Artwork Archive is a relational database, once an artist is created in the system, they are linked to their contact record, their artwork, reminders you have set for them in Artwork Archive's integrated CRM, as well as any purchases they have made.
When entering an artist as a contact, the only required field is the artist’s first name, but the more information you enter, the better.
This will make the artist’s profile more informative and interesting, should you choose to publish their works to the web using Artwork Archive’s public profile and/or exhibition feature.
For Collector accounts:
Any artwork you publish to your public profile or in a private room (both of which can be password protected) will include a hyperlink to the artist's profile.
This is where their biographical details will be visible, as well as their nationality, dates of birth/death and any other details you choose to publish.
Providing pertinent details about the artists that you're featuring will keep your audience engaged longer, and give them more context they may need in order to close a sale or accept a donation.
For Organization accounts:
Adding to your artists' contact details will auto-populate across their profiles whenever their artwork is published, be it on your organization's public profile or in a public exhibition.
This is especially important for historical artist biographies, such as the example illustrated above, but is also a way to increase engagement for contemporary artists by linking to their website and social media channels.
Organization account holders can also offer artists direct access to update their own biographies, as well as upload their own artworks!
This feature saves your organization time by reducing the amount of communication necessary to accurately enter new artworks into the system—especially if you’re preparing a group exhibition with a long list of participating artists.
With this feature, artists can also update their own contact details, including their biographies, so you’ll always have their most up-to-date information in their respective profiles, without all the back-and-forth of email.
Here's how to allow artists to upload artworks directly to your Organization's account:
First, create the artist contact by selecting ‘Contacts’ in the left-hand menu and then clicking on ‘New Contact.’
Note: The only required field is the artist’s first name, but the more information you enter, the better. This will make the artist’s profile more dynamic, should you choose to publish their works to the web using Artwork Archive’s public profile and/or exhibition feature.
Enter as many of the artist’s details as possible, including a profile picture, website, all contact details (mailing address, phone number, email address, etc.), their social media links, date of birth, nationality, and biography. Any information you enter in ‘Notes’ will always be private.
Make sure to click the blue 'Update Contact' button when finished.
How to turn on direct upload for artists:
At the top of the contact record on the right-hand side, you’ll notice a field entitled ‘Enable Artist Submissions’.
To do so, simply check the box that says ‘Allow Piece Submissions’ and add a password that the artist will need in order to upload works directly into your account.
Artwork Archive will generate a URL that you can send to the artist, along with the password that you created.
The URL and the password you created can be viewed and copied by clicking into the artist contact's record and scrolling down.
To quickly copy this information to share with the artist, click on the 'Copy' button in the lower right-hand corner.
Once you've updated the contact, you can see that you've 'turned on' direct upload permissions for this artist under their name.
How Artists upload works directly:
When the artist clicks on the URL that you've shared with them to upload works directly to your account, they will be redirected to this web page.
After the artist enters the password you've created, they will be redirected to this page, where they can upload an artwork and all its accompanying details.
Once they’ve added all the artwork's information, they should click the blue ‘Submit piece’ button at the bottom and can then enter the next artwork to be submitted.
They also have the option to update their contact details and biography by clicking the blue ‘Update Contact Information’ button at the top of the page.
Once they have updated their details and/or biography, they should click the blue ‘Save’ button and voilà! Their contact information is now updated in your organization’s archive.
Giving artists permission to upload their works and update their details directly is just one way that Artwork Archive's integrated CRM helps your organization work smarter, save time, and be more efficient.
By extension, the more information you include about each artist featured in your collection or exhibition, the higher your audience's engagement will be.