(More Than) 5 Tips for Writing Art Announcement Post Card

"IF THEY WANT POSTCARDS, I MAKE POSTCARDS"

“IF THEY WANT POSTCARDS, I MAKE POSTCARDS”

For the Silent. Silence. Silenced. show at Atlantic Works Gallery, Charlene Liska and I worked together to come up with an attractive and informative post card that would serve multiple purposes:

  1. A Hand-out to give friends and family.
  2. An immediate mailer/invitation. There’s no envelope to open.
  3. A good-looking ‘small flyer’ for us, fellow artist friends, and student volunteers to leave at coffee shops and to pin on announcement boards at museums, cultural organizations, and student centers, etc.
  4. A calling card for when we visit galleries this month.
  5. A possible bookmark and legacy stash.

Front of Charlene Liska’s postcard for Silent. Silence. Silenced.

Decisions to make before designing an Art Exhibit Post Card.

  1. What’s on the Front? Usually an image. Could be words.
  2.  What Goes on the Back? Who-What-When-Where ( more later).
  3. Size. To qualify for First-Class Mail postcard rate the card has to be rectangular, at least 3-1/2 inches high x 5 inches long x 0.007 inch thick and be no more than 4-1/4 inches high x 6 inches long x 0.016 inches thick.
  4.  Print Run. How many to  print?
  5.  Budget. How much money you have to spend on this aspect of promotion//marketing?

As far as print run: we decided to print 500 postcards and print two different front images.  We shared identical print information on the back of the post card and varied the image on the front 250/250.

Front of Christine Palamidessi post card for Silent. Silence. Silenced.

Finally, here are the five main points to keep in mind when putting your post card all together:

  1. Plan ahead.  Have the postcards ready 1-2 months before your show opens. This means not only do you need to design the card, but communicate with your printer to find out his/her lead time. So work backwards from your desired date of having the post-card in hand and then line up all the things you need to do to make it happen.
  2.  Who. What. When and Where. Yes, you’ve heard this before and you’ll hear it again. Who (your name) What (name of show and definition of show–is it a pop-up, a month-longshow, a one nighter?)  When (the run date of the show as well as the date of the Opening Night and any other special events during the run of the show) Where (name of the gallery, or venue, and the address. Include zip code and phone number of the gallery and the gallery/venue website. You may consider putting your own phone number on the card, as Charlene and I did,  but realize your phone number may end up on someone’s solicitation list.
  3. Establish Credibility. Be sure to proofread everything. Use high resolution photos/jpg. A sloppy looking card communicates ‘a don’t care/don’t know/I make mistakes attitude’ — which you probably don’t want to do unless that’s the theme of your exhibit, which has its own set of decisions and contradictions not addressed here.
  4. Keep It Clean and Easy. Fewer words are better than a lot of words. People appreciate quick-to-eye grab information. (look at image below–left side of the back of postcard)  to see how we varied caps and lower case, as well as grey and black inks.)
  5.  Ask Friends and Art Community to Help Spread the Word &  Distribute Your Post Cards (drop off, mail, post in their place of work) .

 

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September 2017

Narrow

new work by Perla Casteneda and Kristen Freitas

September 9 – 30, 2017

Both artists will examine the reality of the world around them. Come broaden your world!

Perla will showcase her recent trip to Guatemala through photographs, video and
installation. Her work will focus on the ideals of the quality of life, culture and its expectations,
and her husband’s identity while in his native country. Perla will examine how each world relates
and differs.

Kristen will dig deep into the emotional and physical ideals of society. These ideals that
we either choose to accept or push away. Our choice determines our emotional wellbeing.
Narrow will focus on an imposed and socially acceptable reality and how it can affect your
surroundings.

Opening Reception: Saturday, September 9, 6-9PM
Third Thursday Reception and Artist Talks: Thursday, September 21, 6-9PM
Gallery Hours: Fridays & Saturdays, 2-6 PM or by appointment

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July and August 2017

Atlantic Works Gallery presents

Friends

A group show of Atlantic Works Gallery members and their invited guests

Thursday July 20th – Saturday August 19th

Thursday, July 20th 6:00-9:00 pm Opening Reception

Thursday, August 17th 6:00-9:00 pm Closing Reception

Gallery Hours Fridays and Saturdays 2:00-6:00 pm

Atlantic Works Gallery 80 Border Street East Boston

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June 2017

History is Here and Now

curated by Rachel Shatil

June 3 – 30, 2017

With the rise of nationalism in the USA and all Events over the globe, there is a sense of déjà vu. There is a shared anxiety among millions across the globe that history is repeating itself, that we are witnessing an epic process of dehumanization, that we are living in a world that not only tolerates hate, segregation, atrocities, and genocides, but rather promotes those things. Therefore it is essential to bring back the collective historical memory of our brutal past – to remind ourselves that the abyss is not just a vague paranoid delusion, it is happening here and now.

The show will take advantage of the very well-researched public domain photographs of war-zones, deportations, mass killings, and other atrocities. The visitor experience, although a bit uncomfortable, will be engaging and informative. The images will be integrated into a collage of past and present. Together they will form a four-walled landscape that will transform the Atlantic Works Gallery to a solemn
space for remembrance, discussion, and reflection.

Opening Reception: Saturday, June 3, 6-9PM
Artist Talk on Art and Politics: Saturday, June 10, 6-9PM
Artist Panel Speakers on Human Rights Activism: Thursday, June 15, 6-9PM with
Anat Biletsky, Former Chairperson of B’Tselem, an Israeli human rights organization
Rick Sacra, M.D. a doctor serving in Liberia 20 years and Ebola survivor
Gallery Hours: Saturdays and Sundays, 2-6 PM or by appointment

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May 2017

the Replacements

work by Marjorie Kaye, Walter Kopec, Brian Reardon, Justin Rounds, George Shaw, Melissa Shook,  and Dominick Takis

May 6 – 27, 2017

the REPLACEMENTS: Because even Nothing is Something
the REPLACEMENTS: Be a Stand By, be a Stand In, be a Surrogate, be an Alternate
the REPLACEMENTS: If at first you don’t succeed, there’s always an alternative universe to rely on
the REPLACEMENTS: Or Alternative Facts
the REPLACEMENTS: Look at THIS not THAT
the REPLACEMENTS: Fake News
the REPLACEMENTS: Leftover Casserole
the REPLACEMENTS: Replacing blank walls with sublime energy
the REPLACEMENTS: From the Sublime to the Ridiculous
the REPLACEMENTS: Common Sense
the REPLACEMENTS: Compassion
the REPLACEMENTS: Art, Life, Beauty in a Time of Overwhelming Unbalance

Opening Reception: Saturday, May 64, 6-9PM
Third Thursday Reception and Artist Talk: Thursday, May 18, 6-9PM
Gallery Hours: Saturdays and Sundays, 2-6 PM or by appointment

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April 2017

Landscapes of Memory…and Things that Remain

work by Walter Kopec and Melissa Shook

April 4 – 25, 2017

Walter Kopec’s work, … And Things That Remain, is a response to the volatile world of contemporary politics and social turmoil. The work explores our personal relationship with public symbols and our ability to express ourselves through them. Using visual and verbal references, Kopec probes our reliance on shared symbols to reflect our common bonds and our ability to communicate using them in this uncertain world. While some pieces may read as haunting visual poems, others unveil a tinge of humor… some toe the very thin line between the two. Using the simplest of concept-appropriate materials and the strategies of linguistic puzzle-making and myth-construction, the sculptures and drawings deconstruct and reconstruct the meaning of the “things that remain.”

www.walterkopec.com

Melissa Shook’s Landscape of Memory chronicles the seasonal changes of flowers grown in a community garden plot, from bare earth to seedlings, first flowering, late summer abundance, frost and snow. This multi-media installation uses large sequential color photographs of zinnias, sunflowers, cosmos and marigolds, small pastel and ink drawings, watercolor and acrylic paintings of flowers along with text and video to pay homage to the grandfather who so unexpectedly produced a mass of flowers in a backyard garden when Melissa Shook was thirteen.

www.melissashook.com

Opening Reception: Saturday, April 1, 6-9PM
Third Thursday Reception and Artist Talks: Thursday, April 20, 6-9PM
Gallery Hours: Saturdays and Sundays, 1-5 PM or by appointment

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Nothing Yellow about Walter Kopec’s …AND THINGS THAT REMAIN

 

Conceptual Artist Walter Kopec and his ‘hangman’ word play drawing. At Atlantic Works Gallery, 2017.

 

Blue. Red. Black and White.

Not a hint of cowardly yellow bridges the Right with the Left; no grey softens the Yes and No, the Pro with the Con. There are no dips into non-objectivity. The work Walter Kopec is showing at Atlantic Work Gallery is elegant visual symbolism embedded with the tension of theoretical opposites set off against one another.

Kopec’s crisp, spare images–a pencil drawing, black tape on the wall, nail-pierced shoes, a grid of suspended red and blue ribbons–deliver complex messages; their controlled surfaces counter the irrational and compulsive inner workings of our American politics, culture and society.

The work relies on symbol and the openness of symbol interpretation. There are multiple references to the American flag.  An impressive, mobile-like soft-sculpture, built from red and blue ribbons and fragments of picture frames, takes stage center. “Is the flag assembling, or disassembling?” Kopec asks. Nearby is a wall-sculpture, echoing the shape and material of the mobile sculpture but not its colors. It is a flag made of black and white stripes, which Kopec titles We Hold These Truths to Be Self-Evident  “And the next part is,  …that all men are created equal.”  Kopec says, quoting the words of the U.S. Constitution.  “And, it’s not just black-white racism that this work references,” he adds. “It’s also the black and white print medium– fact vs. fiction. Truth vs. fake news.”

"The Last Dog Eats Alone" ( in a dog-eats-dog world) Pencil drawing with inks. Walter Kopec, 2017.

“The Last Dog Eats Alone” ( in a dog-eats-dog world) Pencil drawing with inks. Walter Kopec, 2017.

Kopec’s  process is contemplative and never-ending. “I might go to my studio and read the dictionary. I might do word games, puzzles. I sit, think and write down ideas. I ask myself what’s happening in the world. What’s the drumbeat right now? ”

For 15 years Kopec’s been chronicling his ideas, words, stories. “I have boxes and boxes filled with sketches, notes, clippings, even fabric. What is this for? What can this mean? Can I use this? How?  Explain it? How? For me, there’s really no start-stop in the conceptual process. My mind is always active. I even wake up at night and write notes.”

“My current conundrum,” Kopec says, “is that I grew up in the 60s and 70s. Experienced stuff that happened in the civil rights movement; during the Viet Nam War. The unfairness of it all.” Today he sees similar opposing forces fighting it out, except that now it is his generation that’s the cause of it. “The people I grew up with are responsible. What prompted this to start?” he wonders.

Two of the pieces in the show have Trump-related themes, though Kopec makes it clear he has not made

Walter Kopec in gallery installing the red strips for ...AND WHAT REMAINS

Walter Kopec in gallery installing the red stripes for …THINGS THAT REMAIN

Trump art or anti-Trump art, and that has no desire to put any of his brain power into Trump. “The art is about what is happening in society: special interests, politics for self-serving personnel gain. Trump just happened to bring it all to the forefront and pushed the ugliness in our faces.”

In the binary opposition of his show …AND THINGS THAT REMAIN, Kopec points  a finger at the system we live in that considers everything either “right or wrong” , “winner or loser” ; “Democratic or Republican” ; “You’re either with us, or you’re with the terrorists.” Using cultural symbols and coded words he connects with emotions illustrating the continuing interrelated conflicts that he felt earlier in his career. “I certainly don’t have answers nor do I pretend to have answers to what’s happening,” Kopec affirms. “America is happiness. This is where people come to pursue happiness.”  He points to a drawing on the wall of a stick figure running after a small American flag, which he titles Pursuit of Happiness.  “ I’m not making judgement on any of this stuff. I hope the pieces appeal to a universal sense of things.”

Walter Kopec’s…AND THINGS THAT REMAIN runs in conjunction with Melissa Shook’s LANDSCAPE OF MEMORY. April 1-26, 2017. At Atlantic Works Gallery, 80 Border Street, East Boston.

 “Political language, as used by politicians, does not venture into any of this territory [of the artist] since the majority of politicians, on the evidence available to us, are interested not in truth but in power and in the maintenance of that power. To maintain that power it is essential that people remain in ignorance, that they live in ignorance of the truth, even the truth of their own lives. What surrounds us therefore is a vast tapestry of lies, upon which we feed.”       —Harold Pinter, upon his receiving the Nobel Prize in Literature, 2005

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March 2017

Then and Now

a group retrospective

March 4 – 25, 2017

Artists create work that responds both to the external forces
that surround them, and the internal state of their minds.

For this exhibit, Atlantic Works member artists have been invited
to show pieces from both past and present, giving the viewer
insight into how the artists and their work may have changed
over the years.

Opening Reception: Saturday, March 4, 6-9PM
Third Thursday Reception and Artist Talks: Thursday, March 16, 6-9PM
Gallery Hours: Saturdays and Sundays, 1-5 PM or by appointment

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February 2017

New Members Exhibiton

with work by Dominick Takis, Curran Broderick, Brian Reardon, and Leah Grimaldi

February 4 – 23, 2017

 

Opening Reception: Saturday, February 4, 6-9PM
Third Thursday Reception and Artist Talks: Thursday, February 16, 6-9PM
Gallery Hours: Saturdays and Sundays, 1-5 PM or by appointment

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January 2017

yellow

an Atlantic Works Gallery production

January 14 – 28, 2017

Gallery members and invited artists interpret yellow…

ADJECTIVE
  1. of the color between green and orange in the spectrum, a primary subtractive color complementary to blue; colored like ripe lemons or egg yolks
  2. informal
    cowardly:
    “he’d better get back there quick and prove he’s not yellow”

    • archaic
      showing jealousy or suspicion.
  3. (of a book or newspaper) unscrupulously sensational.
NOUN
    1. yellow color or pigment:
      “the craft detonated in a blaze of red and yellow” ·
      “painted in vivid blues and yellows”

      • yellow clothes or material:
        “everyone dresses in yellow”
    2. the yolk of an egg.
    3. (yellows)
      any of a number of plant diseases in which the leaves turn yellow, typically caused by viruses and transmitted by insects.
VERB
      1. become a yellow color, especially with age:
        “the cream paint was beginning to yellow” ·
        “yellowing lace curtains” · “a yellowed newspaper cutting”

Opening Reception: Thursday, January 19, 6-9PM
Gallery Hours: Fridays & Saturdays, 2-6 PM or by appointment

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