Artists,

First I would like to thank all of you for being willing to explore the potential of this artist community. Personally, I searched for every possible tool I could devise to help artists, whether it be a job board catered to our needs, community articles, and even a podcast all with the focus of educating artists on the business of art. Unfortunately, this endeavor has been extremely time consuming and now expensive. The platform I use (Ning.com) is now going to charge us $250 dollars a year. In 2010, we made $100 from the job board. I was hoping that between the various avenues of incidental revenue I could cover the cost of running the site. With the price increase that is not the case.

Unless, we can come up with another $150 dollars BeYourArt.com will have to close it doors. Since I don’t have the time to maintain the site and keep deleting mass influx of sex/dating profiles, this might be for the best. Again thank you all for what you have put into this great community. This has been an invaluable experience for me and I’ve learned an immensely about what it takes to run such a site, but more importantly I come to love all your art and your individual passion to share it.

The provider Ning.com doesn’t list when the BeYourArt.com will come up for renewal. I’m waiting to hear back from them. I’ll keep you all posted as to the closing date. Please send an questions to jm@beyourart.com. Thank you all again and good luck on your artistic endeavors.

Sincerely,

Judah Mahay,
Creator of BeYourArt.com
judahmahay.com

We have a few new features on BeYourArt.com. These two features really expand the potential of the site and we look forward to community collaboration.

Listings

This is broken up into five categories. General Listings, which does what it says in being the catch all. Workshops and Studio Space listings will helps artists learn and find housing. We also have a free Marketplace for artists to sell stuff much like Craigslist.

Lastly, is a fun new idea entitled the Exchange, which will allow artists to off their artistic services in exchange for other artistic services (since we lack money why not revert to the old barter system). Prime example is the potter can give a few of his prize clay pots away to a photographer who will exchange take pictures of all of her art to post online. There is great potential with this method of interaction.

Questions & Answers

There is also a new section, which will allow artists to post questions and the community then can answer to the best of their knowledge. We really like this idea in that it cuts to the core of community collaboration.

Other Updates

We did a bit of refinement to the navigation and the home page. If you have anymore suggestions please let us know.

A lot has been happening with BeYourArt.com in the past month. We’ve been editing stories to be published in the North Shoreian Magazine, recording podcasts, reviewing article submissions, and even creating iPhone app ideas!

Recently, we posted a few ideas to the startup Appswell.com. Each month this company takes the idea with the highest rating and develops it into an app for the iPhone or iTouch.

Below is a list of some of the ideas we posted. If you like what you see, please vote to help them be considered for development. Detailed information is provided for each app through the links.

In order to vote, register with Appswell.com (it takes about thirty seconds) then go to the links below. Also, the company factors in comments as well as the votes in the selection process, so please leave your thoughts and suggestions.

iAuthor
Take control of your novel. All your ideas, your outline, your glossary, your timeline, your notes, and so much more in one place to help develop your dream novel. Being a writer, I can’t think of a better app to help my career as a novelist.
http://appswell.com/site/idea/136

Singer’s Toolkit
Sing a single note into your iPhone and the notation will appear on the screen. No need for a piano to begin your songs. This is also a great way to practice pitch.
http://appswell.com/site/idea/96

Be Your Art
Want to know how people succeed in the art world? Find out from quick and easy audio notes. Give advice, share ideas, ask questions, meet like-minded artists (writers, painter, actors, etc), and rate/review what people post. Save your favorite notes, friend other artists, and even follow a specific topic or artist.
http://appswell.com/site/idea/262

Thank you all for your support in making BeYourArt.com an incredible resource for artists. Keep up the great work.

Congratulations on the winners and thank you to everyone else for writing wonderful stories, making the selection process difficult, but well worth it.

1st Place

“Happily Ever After”
By Julie Wilson
http://www.beyourart.com/profile/Julie

2nd Place

“Just Keep Smiling”
By Anna Katsavos
http://www.beyourart.com/profile/AnnaKatsavos

3rd Place

“The Last Gasp“
By Micki Peluso
http://www.beyourart.com/profile/MickiPeluso

*Don’t forget to subscribe to BeYourArt.com’s podcast on iTunes.
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=317258161