Social | #ArtistHotline Returns to Twitter on August 15

Follow the hashtag from 11:00 AM – 4:00 PM EST for advice on creating a website, reflecting on your arts career, and more.

With the end of summer approaching, take some time to assess and build with a supportive creative community. #ArtistHotline, a professional development Twitter chat that takes place on the third Wednesday of each month, is an online forum that facilitates resource-sharing and encouragement between a community of artists and arts administrators. The schedule for each #ArtistHotline covers a variety of subjects through a generalized Open Chat, while also exploring select key themes in-depth through a Guest Chat segment and an Artist/Arts Administrator Q&A. Read on to learn what we have planned for this month, and to find pointers for participating.

August 15 #ArtistHotline Schedule

• 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM EST: #ArtistHotline begins with an Open Chat. During this segment, ask questions and receive advice on any arts career topic. 
• 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM EST: During “The Artist’s Website” Guest Chat, poet, musician, and visual artist Shira Erlichman, poet and performance artist Alysia Nicole Harris, and Electric Kiwi founder Ross Barber-Smith will share practical, inspiring tips for creating and maintaining the de facto calling card for an artist of any discipline: their website.
• 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM EST: The “Self-Assessment for Artists” Q&A will pick up on the conversation started by the 2018 Artists Thrive summit, where artists, innovators, creatives, and arts administrators contemplated a shared vision of a thriving arts sector. We’ll hear from C4 Atlanta Education Manager and musician Audrey Gámez on how artists can utilize tools like the Artists Thrive Self-Assessment rubric to create more sustainable careers as individuals, while also spurring conversations around broader change.

Join the #ArtistHotline Conversation

Here’s how you can participate in #ArtistHotline throughout the day:

• If you don’t already have one, create a free Twitter account now.
• Follow the #ArtistHotline conversation live on Twitter.
• Tweet your questions using the hashtag #ArtistHotline in each tweet.

Want to join in but not sure how to get started? Try reading our Tips to Take Best Advantage of the Day. Then, chime in on Twitter on Wednesday, August 15!

“The Artist’s Website” Guest Chat Participants

Ross Barber-Smith, Electric Kiwi founder, has dedicated his life to helping musicians, bands, and other artists pursue dreams of turning their passion for music into a viable career opportunity. His decision to launch Electric Kiwi in 2011 came after Ross earned a 2:1 BA (Hons) degree in Popular Music Performance from the UHI Millennium Institute in Perth, Scotland. From designing websites to creating artwork for album covers, Barber-Smith has worked with independent artists from all over the world and his marketing strategies have been featured on top websites including Cyber PR Music, and Hypebot. He also co-hosts his own video podcast, Bridge the Atlantic, with singer/songwriter Marcio Novelli. The podcast, which interviews musicians and creative entrepreneurs, spent several weeks on the “New and Noteworthy” chart after debuting on iTunes.

Find Barber-Smith tweeting @ElectricKiwi.

Shira Erlichman is a poet, musician, and visual artist. A three-time Pushcart Prize nominee, her work can be found in The Huffington Post, BuzzFeed Reader, and PBS NewsHour’s Poetry Series, among others. She was awarded a residency by the Millay Colony, the James Merrill Fellowship by the Vermont Studio Center, and the Visions of Wellbeing Focus Fellowship at AIR Serenbe. Her poetry book Odes to Lithium (Alice James Books, September 2019) is forthcoming, as well as her children’s book Be/Hold (Penny Candy Books, Spring 2019). As a musician she’s performed across the US, sharing stages with TuNe-YaRdS, CocoRosie, and Mirah. Her new album Subtle Creature premiered in BUST Magazine who hailed it as a “spectacular mystery.” Born in Israel, raised in Massachusetts, she now lives in Brooklyn. Learn more at www.officialshira.com.

Find Erlichman tweeting @sheer_awe.

Alysia Nicole Harris is a writer, poet, linguist, and performance artist. Over the last 9 years, Harris has performed at the United Nations and has toured the United States, as well as Canada, South Africa, Germany, Slovakia, Jordan Ukraine, and the UK. She has been featured on HBO as a youth poet and called one of the top ten Black female poets to watch by Blavity, For Harriet, and Nylon Magazine. Harris performs with an eye towards healing and sees her work as promoting transparency, women’s empowerment, wonder-filled, guilt-free spirituality, and racial reconciliation. Her first chapbook How Much We Must Have Looked Like Stars to Stars won the 2015 New Women’s Voices Series Contest and is now available. Harris currently lives in Georgia and serves as poetry editor for Scalawag Magazine. Above all things, she loves the Lord God. Learn more about Harris by visiting her website.

Find Harris Tweeting @Poppyinthewheat. 

“Self-Assessment for Artists” Q&A

Audrey Gámez brings 11 years of education experience to her role as Education Manager for C4 Atlanta. She was previously a facilitator for the Ignite training seminar for creative individuals aiming to develop a sustainable business plan, and has served as Education Coordinator for MASS Collective. An active volunteer, Gámez has worked with several community and arts organizations around Atlanta. In addition to her responsibilities with C4 Atlanta, Gámez continues to work as a professional singer and music educator, maintaining a private voice, violin, and viola studio. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of North Texas and a Master of Music degree from Louisiana State University.

Find Gámez tweeting @c4atlanta.

Inspired by the NYFA Source Hotline, #ArtistHotline is an initiative dedicated to creating an ongoing online conversation around the professional side of artistic practice. #ArtistHotline occurs on the third Wednesday of each month on Twitter. Our goal is to help artists discover the resources needed, online and off, to develop sustainable careers.

This initiative is supported by the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation.

Images, from top: LoVid (Fellow in Digital/Electronic Arts ‘17); courtesy Ross Barber-Smith, Shira Erlichman, Alysia Nicole Harris, and Audrey Gámez; social media images: Andrey Larin