If you will indulge me, I want to brag on the Office of Public Art in Pittsburgh. They are doing something awesome…and I think it is an idea that many of you who manage artist registries could be inspired by.

Have you wondered how to use your slide registry to engage artists and the larger arts community? A couple of years ago, the Office of Public Art staff came up with the idea of using our registry to host curated, on-line exhibitions. Our registry is open to any visual, literary, or performing artist in the 13 county region of Southwestern PA. It is free to join and free for people to use. We wanted to give artists from our region more exposure to decision makers and opportunities, and we also wanted to make sure our registry stayed relevant. We thought on-line exhibitions would make it more appealing for a range of artists to participate and would trick / encourage them into keeping their profiles up to date.

To make the curated section, OPA engaged the same developer that created our slide registry (Lava New Media). A brainstorming session with colleagues from the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council helped us come up with a name. Thanks to Dek Ingram we call it SIFT.

For the first year of curators, OPA reached out to a writer (Yona Harvey), curator (José Carlos Diaz of the Warhol Museum), and a record label (Third Man Records). They are paid an honorarium to come up with a list of artists of any genre to be featured in their SIFT. They are not limited in any way. Once they have their list, OPA works with the artists to update their profiles and link to the exhibition.

To attract artists to join the registry in time for the SIFT opportunity, OPA put out a call for artists with a deadline highlighting the current curator. OPA encourages artists to update their profile to increase the chance of them being selected.

But what about the party? To bring people together to connect, celebrate, and learn more about the collection, OPA hosted a SIFT opening with Yona Harvey, SIFT 1’s curator. She discussed her collection and all of the work that was selected was projected. About 70 people attended the event.

They are not going to brag on themselves, so I am going to do it. Congratulations to the OPA team: Derek Reese who manages the registry and this project, Kahmeela Friedson, Rachel Klipa, and Sallyann Kluz.

Sallyann Kluz became OPA’s new director in January. After thirteen years it was time for me to try new things and watch the program grow. If you want to see a funny photo of the transition, go here: https://tinyurl.com/opatransition. There will be a job posting soon for a new Associate Director. Stay tuned!

I hope that you will connect with OPA on Instagram, Facebook, and in person if you visit Pittsburgh. They love to show people around! www.publicartpittsburgh.org