ASK ESA - Slide Registries

Greetings lovies - I have emerged from my intense summer schedule of beach lounging and fruity cocktails to remind you that Fall is just around the corner which means soon the art world will a buzz with activity. So, with that in mind - let's talk about the exciting world of slide registries. I always encourage artists to be in slide registries no matter how un-glamorous or annoying the requirements are, being in a slide registry might just yield opportunities you may have never dug up un your own. Slide registries are utilized by the full range of "art professionals" from curators to corporate art consultants. As a general rule the procedure for filing your slides in a registry is to provide 20 slides, a resume, a statement and a self-addressed stamped envelope. Sometimes you'll have to fill out a nasty looking form or write a check for $25 but please don't let that stop you.

State and municipal registries are generally open to all artists but more specific registries are "curated" or "juried" which mean there is a person, a staff or a panel that selects who will make the cut. White Columns, for example, describes its registry as "a collection of slides documenting the work of emerging artists who do not have commercial gallery representation in New York City." In other words, don't bother if you don't think you fit this description. If you have a specialized field you can concentrate your search for an appropriate registry such as the Drawing Center, The Sculpture Center or The Center For Book Arts. Registries such as the Chicago Artists' Coalition and the Silver Eye Center for Photography in Pittsburgh require that you become a member to be included in their slide files. If you are in New York, or trying to aim yourself at the New York market there are a multitude of slide libraries serving "emerging" artists including Artist's Space and White Columns and in Brooklyn the DUMBO Arts Center and Rotunda Gallery. I know for a fact they are all well used and frequently perused. In addition just like the world of "private clubs", there are also registries that exist to serve specific groups of artistic human beings such as Women, African Americans or textile artists for example - so do some research.

Most often registries are specific to geographic areas and you should be able to find one that at least serves your state, start by contacting your nearest Arts Council, or drop me a line and I'll give you some leads. Most state agencies have a Percent for Art registry. What, pray tell Mistress Esa is a "Percent for Art" registry? It's a slide bank that public art advisors and some architects use to fill up their large building projects with art for which they usually have 1% of their overall budget set aside by law to spend. Sometimes they spend it on behemoth sculptures for their plaza or pretty pictures for their lobbies but sometimes they get creative so it's really a giant roulette wheel but I promise to write about the procedures and pratfalls involved with public art programs soon!

If all of this sounds like a giant pain in the ass to you - well it can be. However, it rarely costs much, if anything, and it couldn't hurt your career to be in one or two registries. There are some unspoken advantages of being in some registries. I happen to know that a certain municipal slide registry passes on mailing list of artists in it's system to other organizations looking for artists. Even if you don't hear from anyone, many eyeballs peruse your work - often based on a search made on a keywords like "childhood", "encaustic" or "kitchen equipment." To boot, registries like the fine one at Artist's Space here in New York are going digital and on-line which makes finding artists a snap compared to the old days when one would get a major neck cramp from peering at random sheets of slides held up to florescent light tubes.

One last thing, if you put your work into slide registries make sure you update them with recent work every couple of years and for the sake of God do notify them if you change your address or phone number - even if you submitted your slides yonks ago you never know how long these things hang around. I've seen curators go back to the office with a list made at a slide library in hand and not been able to reach half of the artists whose work they had just admired. I know what you are going to whine "But Mistress Esa, I put my slides in a registry 10 years ago and never got one call!" Did you update your slides during that time? Was your work categorized appropriately? Did you put slides of your erotic art in a public art registry? Read submission guidelines carefully and submit appropriate work represented by professionally taken slides and provide an accurate description of your work and medium to help people find you, my little needle, in the haystack.

Happy registering!

Mistress Esa

(P.S. Apologies for my New York centered slide registry review - if you know of a good one near you please let me know and I would be happy to let our AK audience know.)