PRESS INFORMATION
For immediate release: 1 July 2013
Mobile social media image
aggregator brings Glasgow’s museums & galleries to life
Launched today, Visual Arts Glasgow (http://visualartsglasgow.co.uk/)
is a new mobile-responsive webspace that draws together the
exhibitions, commentary and other stories
from Glasgow’s vibrant visual arts scene, providing an image-led portal
where tourists and locals can engage with visual arts news and events
on the move.
Drawing Facebook, twitter, YouTube and vimeo
content direct from over 40 museums, festivals, galleries and studios
across the city, the new space aggregates the images and film clips that
the organisations share
through social media to create a constantly updated feed of visual
content. From major destinations on the tourist circuit, like
Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum, The Hunterian or The Burrell
Collection, to lesser-known gems such as the Virginia Gallery, Mary
Mary or Project Ability, the site sets the city’s visual arts
destinations on an equal footing with each organisation’s profile
defined exclusively by the style and extent of its social media
activity. A dedicated hashtag, #VisArt, allows multi-arts venues
to contribute images to the live stream, showcasing the full scope and
variety of every genre of Glasgow’s thriving visual arts.
“The site makes you feel
like you really are in that organisation’s space. So The Lighthouse
profile page feels like The Lighthouse; the Riverside Museum feels like
the Riverside; each organisation’s
page is uniquely its own, whilst the homepage presents visitors with a
rich fusion of the full spectrum of visual arts activity taking place
across the city and extends the life of their social media content.”
Dianne Greig, Culture Sparks (WhiteNOISE project leader).
With an emphasis on connecting visual arts
organisations directly with their online audiences, the site provides
each organisation with a dedicated profile page that draws together its
own Facebook, twitter, YouTube
and vimeo content, alongside a short introduction, logo, profile
picture and location map. Visitors can like, share, retweet and
favourite content without leaving the webspace, or navigate directly
from any post to the social media stream from which it originated
to interact directly with Glasgow’s galleries, museums and studios. All
interactions will be closely tracked, to create an unique and
groundbreaking insight into the activity and interests of the online
audience for Glasgow’s visual arts.
Designed with mobile technology in mind, the
webspace is optimised for browsing on the move via smart phone or tablet
(iOS and android compatible), and is equally accessible via desktop.
Intuitive touch-screen navigation
and a simple site structure provide a seamless user experience that
brings the city’s art scene to life, setting original imagery alongside
news, commentary and visitor opportunities.
Visual Arts Glasgow has been developed as
part of WhiteNOISE, a Creative Scotland-funded project to define and
grow audiences for the visual arts in Glasgow. Designed and developed by
Culture Sparks, the WhiteNOISE
project launched in 2012 with a major research phase that wove together
findings from over 1,500 visitor interviews with in-depth feedback from
representatives of visual arts communities; data drawn from digital and
social media sources and detailed demographic
information, to create an unique overview of Glasgow’s visual arts
audience and the issues associated with growing it.
The Visual Arts Glasgow website responds
directly to collective issues raised through the WhiteNOISE research
phase, providing a portal through which visual arts organisations will
connect directly with local audiences
and cultural tourists.
-
ENDS -
No comments:
Post a Comment