I have heard about the Chicago Arts Coalition (CAC) a bit before, but I didn't really understand what this organization was all about until now. According to the mission statement on their website, the organization was created to "educate the general public on the value of art in society, while simultaneously providing support, advocacy, and professional development for artists, the art community and the improvement of artists' living and working environments." I personally respect this organization's mission and am glad to hear that this organization's main goal is to take care of Chicago artists from providing better health care benefits to improving their home and work environment.
From observing the website, I enjoying viewing the diverse group of artists' work and I really liked the format in which the web designers displayed each artist. If I was looking to hire an artist, I would be definitely be interested in using this site.
Overall, I think that the CAC has a nice and simple website that is well thought out and planned. I also appreciate how this site has a consistent and easy to read fonts as well as images/artwork to keep my attention. Oh, and one more thing, I saw that the CAC just started a blog too and I really like the way they set it up.
So I realize that most people really like flash, but I am truly not a real big fan of it. I usually find it kind of annoying and I feel that most websites such as Street-Level Youth Media use it to basically make a site look "flashy." This takes me to the Stree-Level Youth Media home page which has an overall nice clean design minus the rotating images and categories of their site which was created in flash. Once you dive more into the site, the format of the site looks really clean and very sharp. You can tell that whoever created this site does have some design skills. For example, it has a great looking logo on the corner which brings you back to the home page. Next to the logo the designer(s) placed the address which I think is very effective. Additionally, the copy and the font choices are easy to read. My gripes of ideas for change, would be the tab sections. There are two too many sets of tabs. I think it would make more sense if it functioned as more of a drop down menu. Even though it does work, I think this one change would make the site more user friendly.
Beyond the critique of the website, Street-Level Youth Media seems like a great organization. I think that this is a great concept for a school,offering after-school and summer programs to 8-22 year olds who are interested in different types of media production workshops. After reading about it, I thought that if I was back in high school, I would have loved to enroll in some of these classes. On that note, I'll definitely share this site with my students.
Pros Arts Studio, a Pilsen community based visual and performance arts organization, seems like another great organization whose mission is basically to bring free visual, media, and performing arts programs to over 20 community centers and schools. This again is an impressive venture and I like the overarching theme this week in cyberped class of arts organizations in the city that link artists and their communities in a non-for-profit manner.
In reading about the organization from their site, I was interested in how the Pros Arts Studio’s work was a response to the community’s need for high-quality, deep-impact arts programs which engage youth in meaningful, positive experiences. Moreover, I was impressed with this organization's need and understanding to honor the community’s Mexican heritage. Based on this initiative alone, I would love to observe and hear more about the organizers and teacher's pedagogy.
Now, for the site critique...
As for the website's organization, it is easy to navigate to except for the homepage which you can only link to though it's exceptionally small logo that is located in the left hand corner. I also like the pictures throughout but feel that there should probably be more, especially of the kid's artwork. On that note, many of the images are high resolution photographs which make the site sometimes load slowly. Something else that I would change is the consistency of fonts and font sizes. On the home page, there are way too many fonts with way too many typos.
Again, though as the critic, I do realize like most of these organizations that we have been observing this week, having a web site alone is really great. Most of these organizations obviously do not have a design team and probably have one person who is creating this site in their spare time for free.
Messy? Kind of...but who doesn't like things a little messy once in a while?
So after checking out the organization and site of Mess Hall, I was once again inspired by this concept of a space where artists creatively and thoughtfully discuss art, politics, urban planning, and eco design. Personally, I found this type of experience in the corner bar in my old neighborhood in Bucktown, but hey it's nice to see a community of people who basically found a space in Rogers Park for this primary purpose and it is not based around drinking...at least that I know of. I also like how over time this space which I got at from reading their history was founded by a few "keyholders" and with time became a great place to host exhibitions, discussions, film screenings, food, workshops, concerts, campaigns and meetings. Again, it has a similar feel to it that the Community Arts Organization does and I like the motivation of this group of people who come together to share stuff from objects to ideas.
So onto the site evaluation of Mess Hall. So the site is a little messy but based on the idea that they probably don't have a great deal of money and or web designers/developers to create it, I think it is pretty great. I love the rotating images on the front page and the fact that I could find everything easily. I also was interested in their new blog that they recently added to the site. This is exactly the kind of organization which really needs a blog and it was a great read.
Once again, the Chicago Art Department seems like another one of those great art organizations that I haven't ever heard about until cyberped class. I am beginning to realize that I am
a. out of touch
b. getting old
c. need to get out more
Anyway...I did enjoy checking this site out and I have a great appreciation for what this innovative concept of an art school is all about. It kind of reminds me of the movie Accepted (I know, I did watch it and kind of liked it) where the students began writing on a white board what classes they would like to take and the school kind of morphs into this creative environment based on what the students really want to learn.
So, what I understood through looking through this site was that this place revolves around resident instructors who work in this space which offers new artists a
1. space...which is really great
2. an opportunity to exhibit...equally pretty awesome
3. fancy digital art equipment
4. classes in digital technology, design, film, video production, drawing and painting
As for the website, I thought that it was nicely organized and fairly easy to navigate. It's also pretty up to date with what is the new and trendy to have on an arts website such as you tube videos, links to flicker images and blogs. I especially liked the you tube video on the homepage which is all about their organization. You could tell that everyone that works or is involved in CAD is fairly passionate about what the do and quite honestly, it made me smile. My only slight gripe about the site is that I felt it was a little dark and dreary. A little more color would be helpful. Otherwise, seems like a great organization and a site.
I just wanted to add a website link for those of you who need image resources for yourself and your students. One that I really love using is called Morguefile. I find it helpful because it is a public image archive of high resolution photographs. Their homepage describes it as a site that provides "free image reference material for use in all creative pursuits."
Three walls is another one of those great organizations that we have been researching this semester in cyberped class. The one thing I don't seem to get about places like these is how I have been in the city for over 10 years as an artist/teacher and haven't heard about them. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the fact the we are learning about them now in grad school but I wish that these resources were more known in the Chicago community.
Threewalls, according to their mission statement on their website, "is dedicated to increasing Chicago’s cultural capital by cultivating contemporary art practice and discourse, and by creating a locus of exchange between local, national and international contemporary art communities through a range of programs." Again, another great concept which offers artist residencies, space for exhibits, resources and a great blog for artists to present news and events.
In critiquing the threewalls website, I thought that it was similar to the Experimental Sound Studio in Ravenswood where everything was simply organized with great images, nice color schemes and good overall flow. I especially liked to blog and calendar sections of the site. This is one of the first sites that I have seen that effectively had a blog that was interesting to read.
The only thing that I would really change about the website is the homepage. I think the homepage of any site should address what this website is about right from the start. For someone like me who explored this site not knowing the organization, it seems very vague and confusing. I also find it annoying when the first thing you notice is the organization asking you to help them out by applying for membership. Maybe it's just me, but asking for membership when you don't even know what the organization is all about seems a little bold. Regardless, once exploring the site, I did find the value in the organization and would like to check it out more.
About six years ago I was working at the MCA and the entire staff there at the time for the most part, disliked the website because of its functionality and lack of information. It's amazing to think that since then, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago's site has become in my opinion, exceptionally impressive.
Compared to other contemporary art museums across the country, this website is one of the best. So to not bore you with details, I decided the best way to explain my reactions to this site is to present it in a list format.
The Homepage
- a clear vision of information
- easy to navigate
- an interesting interactive aspect, not too overly "flashy"
- soothing monochromatic background color scheme which allow the colors of the art to standout
- quick important information in the plan your visit section
- the adaptability of the homepage which can easily be changed for the next featured artist or event
- clear arrangement of the exhibit and performances information, from the dates the events will take place to the images of the work
- well thought out links to the current, upcoming and past exhibits and performances information
- clear arrangement of the section
- entertaining images - I especially liked the picture of the girl on First Fridays. Not to offend if you know this girl but she looks like the kind of girl who would go to this event, pearls and all...this picture not decieving if you have ever been to a first friday.
- since I have worked at the MCA, they have really focused more attention to this area, offering a lot more great workshops and resources (yeah!)
- I am interested in checking out the podcasts and am excited to see their blogs when they figure this one out
- if you haven't found or checked out the MCA's online teacher resource book, make sure you do. I think they have some great ideas and helpful resources.
- when I was working at the MCA, they did not have their store online
- this is a great addition and I like the arrangement of the information
In thinking about teaching in the 21st century, I thought that this might be a good video to share that raises awareness of the issues of technology and globalization.
Since we have been talking about power point presentations in class, I figured I would share with everyone another alternative called prezi presentations. Some of my colleagues have started to use prezi presentations and even though I personally haven't had the chance to work with this format, I have seen what my colleagues are doing with it and I think it could be a valuable tool in teaching and presenting art.
I found out about the organization/publication Area Chicago last semester in John Ploof's class when he brought in one of the editors to present one of their publications to the class. Overall, I thought it was an amazing publication whose focus was to provide a group of artists and activists who discuss and record their thoughts about researching art, education and activist practices within the city of Chicago.
Now for the AREA website... After just reading Mary's blog, I am going to agree with her on the black and white issue of the site. It is painfully boring to look at. Even a little color, some art or an image here or there would really help. For as visually appealing as the publication is, I was surprised to see how unappealing the site design is. I believe this may be due to the fact that the focus is on the publication and not on the website. Also, I found out from exploring the website that AREA began in 2005 so I am thinking that it is going to take time and of course more financial resources to focus more on developing their site.
Even though I'm not the biggest fan of how unappealing this site is, I do want to recognize the overall organization of the site. There is a wealth of information that AREA offers and this site is well organized and easy to navigate.
After living in the city for the last ten years with a nice little network of artist/friends, I am once again in awe by the fact that I don't know much about the great organizations that are out there for artists. This week we were asked to critique one of these organizations known as the Experimental Sound Studio (ESS), "a nonprofit organization founded in 1986, dedicated to the promotion, production, presentation, and preservation of innovative and diverse approaches to the sonic arts, and to the integration of these art forms into the public." This studio is located in the Ravenswood neighborhood in Chicago and is a great resource for us "teaching artists." I appreciate how it is fairly inexpensive to join the group and offers a great deal of sound equipment to work with for a reasonable hourly rate. Moreover, this group offers workshops and an artist in residency program.
In terms of the website's design, I like the less is more approach that it seems to have. For starters, I thought that their logo at the top of their site is nicely designed and catches your attention. Moreover, I appreciate the simple organization of this site's design. Everything was easy to find and navigate through which in my mind, makes it a really great site. It also offered a good amount of images placed throughout each of the pages for those of us who are more visual.
