Artists, participation in this exhibition can bring invitations to other opportunities to exhibit that you might not otherwise receive.

TWITTER ART EXHIBIT: LOS ANGELES

OPEN TO ALL PROFESSIONAL & AMATEUR ARTISTS WORLDWIDE WORKING IN 2D MEDIUMS

WHAT
Twitter Art Exhibit: Los Angeles
Benefiting Art Division

WHEN
Saturday, January 12, 2013 | 7-10PM
Show runs January 12 – February 10, 2013
SUBMISSION DEADLINE: Friday, January 4th, 2013

WHERE
Exhale Unlimited (E.U.) Gallery
953 Chung King Road, Los Angeles, CA, USA 90012

CURATED BY
Nat George, Virginia Arce

FOLLOW
Website: www.twitterartexhibit.org
Twitter: @twitrartexhibit
Facebook: /twitterartexhibit

E.U. Gallery is proud to present Twitter Art Exhibit: Los Angeles, an international exhibition of original postcard art benefiting Art Division, a nonprofit (501)(c)3 organization dedicated to training and supporting underserved youth (18-25) in L.A.’s Rampart District, an at-risk group within one of Los Angeles’ most densely populated and underserved communities. Through focused instruction, individualized tutoring and personal support, each student is given the tools they need to pursue higher education, achieve self-sufficiency and obtain careers in the arts. For more info, please visit www.artdivision.org.

Twitter Art Exhibit: Los Angeles is the third installment of an open international exhibition of handmade postcard art for charity, donated by hundreds of participating artists from around the globe.

While the first two exhibitions were held in Moss, Norway, the Los Angeles show marks a global launch for the concept by founder David Sandum, a Swedish-born artist who conceived the Twitter Art Exhibit as a vehicle for doing good through social media and online community-building. The idea is simple: artists from all over the world receive a call through Twitter social media to create original postcard-sized art, which they mail to a local curator who then exhibits and sells them to benefit a local charity. Artists must have a Twitter account and interact with exhibition organizers to help seed the event.

In its first year, Twitter Art Exhibit received postcards from over 260 artists in 24 countries, raising funds to buy 221 new children’s books for a struggling library in Moss, Norway. The second installment received entries by 360 artists in 32 countries, raising $4,000 USD for an abused women’s shelter, also in Moss.

With the Los Angeles show, Twitter Art Exhibit hopes to expand the concept to support small, local nonprofits around the globe while opening new markets and exhibition opportunities for participating artists. The L.A. event will be held at E.U. Gallery on Chung King Road in Chinatown’s Arts District, neighbor to Coagula Projects, The Company, and Charlie James Gallery.

The event will be highly publicized and well attended by art buyers and enthusiasts, members of the press, local artists and the community, as well as members and young students of Art Division.

Of course, social media plays a major role in the Twitter Art Exhibit. It’s our intention to tweet, share, seed and promote our artists to thank them for their participation, and to make this event a huge success.

PLEASE READ THE INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY:

1) You must be a Twitter user to participate in Twitter Art Exhibit: Los Angeles. Make sure to follow @twitrartexhibit, as well as the hashtag #twitterartexhibit. And don’t forget to visit www.twitterartexhibit.org for updates!

2) Send a message to twitterartexhibitla@gmail.com with the heading Twitter Art Exhibit Los Angeles to indicate your interest in participating. Ultimately, your entry is officially logged when your work arrives at the destination.

3) Create a postcard-sized original piece of art. Standard postcard sizes are best (6.3 x 4.7 inches or 16 x 12 cm MAX, horizontal format preferred, further details below).

4) Include your complete information on the back of each card. It is very important that artists include the following: real name, @twittername, country, city, title, and website. This will be helpful to buyers and organizers alike, and will be used to print labels to be placed next to each card. We’ve been able to connect many artists with buyers, so make sure your information is up-to-date!

5) Mail your postcard via regular First Class Mail (or international equivalent) to the following address:

Exhale Unlimited
c/o Twitter Art Exhibit: Los Angeles
953 Chung King Road, Los Angeles, CA 90012, U.S.A.

LOCALS: The gallery will not receive in-person artwork drop-offs. Kindly mail your piece to the above address.

SHIPPING METHOD: We encourage you to ship your work, well-protected in an envelope, via regular first class mail as this worked best in past exhibitions. If you choose to send your work by courier, please do not ask for signature confirmation as this may create additional problems. For instance, if gallery staff isn’t immediately on-hand to sign for packages and they are returned to the courier company or post office, we are not staffed to run back and forth to these locations to sign for and pick up packages.

ENTER EARLY
Postcards must be received at the above address by Friday, January 4, 2013 to be included in the exhibition. Late entries may not be accepted. Allow at least 10 days for shipping. If there is a problem or concern, please contact us at twitterartexhibitla@gmail.com

NO PARTICIPATION FEES
As this is an exhibition for charity, there is no fee to enter. Every participant, from artist to organizer, is involved on a voluntary, unpaid basis. The goal is to share our collective talents for a good cause. 100% of proceeds go to charity.

OPEN EXHIBITION: NO JURY, NO THEME
Any professional or amateur artist in reach of our voice is invited! Although there is no jury and no theme, please send quality work. This is a public event that will draw media and public attention, so please paint/draw something that represents the best of your style and work. As children may be present, we ask that you consider making the subject matter appropriate for all audiences. The definition of “appropriate” is up for debate, but please use common sense.

POSTCARD MATERIALS
Please avoid surfaces that couldn’t be considered postcard material (canvas, wood, etc.). Thick or good quality paper is preferred, but thin cardboard will also do. Sketch or print paper is too flimsy. We suggest you pick up a postcard from a store near you, and try to match its format and thickness. Keep in mind, the postal service isn’t generally recognized for “gentle handling”; we want your postcard to sell and to be in the best shape possible, so make sure to ship it in an envelope and pack it well for the journey.

MEDIUMS
Postcards must be signed, handmade originals in any of the following mediums: Watercolor, acrylic, oil, ink, gouache, mixed media, collage, charcoal and pastel (please use spray!). Linocuts, woodcuts, lithographs (printmaking) are accepted if they are the correct size, hand-signed and “one off” originals (1/1). No copies, photographs*, duplications/reproductions (computer or otherwise) will be accepted. And please, nothing perishable, toxic or otherwise harmful. *In recent years we have decided to steer away from photography due to the large amount of low-quality prints sent, and so as to focus on the “handmade”.

DIMENSIONS/FORMAT
Your artwork should resemble a postcard (art on one side, your info on the other). For the overall look of the exhibition, it’s important that the cards are close to each other in size. This is also key to us including as many cards as possible. The maximum size allowed is 6.3 x 4.7 inches (16 x 12 cm). Please try to stick to standard postcard sizes/proportions. Slightly smaller versions are fine.

NUMBER OF CARDS ACCEPTED
The goal of the first exhibit was 140 (symbolic of 140 Twitter characters), but we ended up with 260 cards from 24 countries. The second time around, we had 360 artists from 32 nations. Please understand that the exhibit will be a piece of art in itself, and that it will be up to the organizers to ensure that the show ”works.” You may send more than one card, but we cannot guarantee all will be displayed.

PRICING
The sale price will be $35 USD per card. Many, if not all of these cards are worth a lot more, but this will allow the general public to purchase them easily.

AFTER THE EXHIBITION
All work received will be considered a donation and will not be returned to the sender. There will be no online auction. Any unsold art will be donated to the charity to use as they see fit (i.e. create a mural with remaining pieces to commemorate the event, or sell remaining work at future fundraisers). It’s the gift that keeps on giving!

ONE POSTCARD = MANY TWEETS » SPREAD THE WORD!
Our Twitter account is @twitrartexhibit. Please follow us! We appreciate RTs and mentions. We suggest you post a pic of your card on Twitter before mailing it, and use the hashtag #twitterartexhibit so that we can share the love! If you wish, curators Nat George and Virginia Arce can be reached at @natgeorgela & @goldteefthief.

When organizers receive your postcard, they will:
1) Scan it and send a Twitter shout-out using the above hashtag.
2) Post it on www.twitterartexhibit.org (visit us to see if your card has arrived).
3) Hand it to the person in charge of printing labels with your information, which will be placed next to the card on the wall at the exhibit.

Please know that organizing this exhibition is a tremendous task. The number of pieces alone makes this a very time-consuming endeavor for the curators, as well as bringing together all parties to make the exhibition a success. We will do everything in our power to tweet and blog about your contribution promptly (we gather incoming entries from gallery staff twice a week), but we ask you to be patient if your card doesn’t show up right away.

VIDEO
A video of the event will be made for online circulation. This is not only done to help the cause, but also to promote participating artists. Local organizers will be in charge of this and will scan your images as they arrive in the mail. Again, please make sure to include your complete information in the back of your card.

FUNDING LEGITIMATE CHARITIES
100% of funds raised by the Twitter Art Exhibit go to the chosen charity. Benefiting organizations are vetted by Twitter Art Exhibit’s local organizers, as well as by our five-member organizing board. One of our biggest concerns is doing our due diligence and taking every precaution to make sure our initiative does not exploit anybody, and that schemers do not make off with our concerted efforts.

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We thank you for participating in Twitter Art Exhibit: Los Angeles!

With your support, we can really make a difference for the young students of Art Division. This is a unique opportunity for the global artistic community to come together and support a new generation of artists who would otherwise fall through the system’s cracks.

We look forward to receiving your beautiful postcards, and to join our voices to yours in expanding the Twitter Art Exhibit concept to new locations around the world.

Sincerely,

Nat George & Virginia Arce
Twitter Art Exhibit: Los Angeles curators

Twitter Art Exhibit Organizing Board:
David Sandum @DavidSandumArt
Robin Maria Pedrero @robinpedrero
Christian Karlsson  @svorsk
Ryan Seslow @ryanseslow
Nat George @natgeorgela