ARTDEX For Students

Painting students art league school" by George - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 | Source: commons.wikimedia.org
Painting students art league school" by George - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 | Source: commons.wikimedia.org

The engineering majors may scoff, but studying art is no easy task. It’s a complicated discipline that takes a mix of talent and plain old hard work. Plus it doesn’t get much respect. Whether you’re studying art history, art theory, the art market, or to be an artist, you could probably use a tool to make your life a little easier. Enter ARTDEX.

What Is ARTDEX?

ARTDEX is a cross between Instagram, Pinterest, and LinkedIn. You can upload records of art that you like, that you’ve created, or that you’ve collected to create your own digital art gallery. Each member has his/her own page, like a Facebook profile. Each work also has its own page where other members can leave comments, ask questions, and otherwise engage with each other and the original poster. It’s a social media platform dedicated to art.

For artists and collectors, ARTDEX is a way to get work out into the world and to connect with other likeminded people. For students, ARTDEX can be a valuable resource to add to your education.

Find Beauty In Chaos, But Keep Your Art In Order

No matter what aspect of art you study, it’s tough to stay organized. There are probably pieces of art all over your studio and your home—how do you manage it all? Upload photos and important information to ARTDEX to keep all of that information organized. It’s good practice for when you finish school and head out into the art world, too. You’ll need to know what pieces you have, where you’re storing them, and other important elements like the artist’s name and the date of creation.

Maybe you’re the artist—use ARTDEX to keep records of your work and show them to the world. Use it to collect pieces by other artists that inspire you or that give you new ideas. Maybe you’re working on an art history project—use it to keep a gallery of all the pieces you’re working with along with your notes and other research.

There are other art management programs out there, but they’re pricey. If you’re sitting at the intersection of starving student and starving artist, you probably can’t afford thousands of dollars’ worth of art inventory management software for your personal use. You probably also don’t need a heavy art inventory management system. What you need is something simple and functional and, best of all, free! That’s right, it’s cheaper than ramen.

Be Art Social (From Your Couch, If You Want)

It’s not easy to break into the art scene unless you’re fortunate enough to have a famous artist or collector as a relative. Of course, you shouldn’t be shut out of the art world just because your name isn’t Koons. So how can you connect to other artists, collectors, and art enthusiasts? 

ARTDEX is a social platform. You can connect with other members over their work, your work, and everyone else’s work. You can get feedback about your own work, ask questions about other works, and just make friends in the art world. Reach out to the artists you admire and tell them about it (or just quietly stalk their page–this is social media, after all). This is the first time the art world has really committed to going online. Crafters have Pinterest and Etsy, gamers have Reddit, and now you have ARTDEX.

Work in Progress Coworking in Las Vegas | Photo by John Schnobrich on Unsplash
Work in Progress Coworking in Las Vegas | Photo by John Schnobrich on Unsplash

The connectivity aspect is good for more than personal connections. It allows you to explore the art, artists, and collections that are out there. It has a feature called “Discover” to help you find the kind of art you love. You can search for pieces by artist, by collection, by name, by movement, by theme, and by medium. Looking for Asian Contemporary mixed media works? No problem. Conceptual sculpture? Of course! Whether you need inspiration or are just curious, you can now explore more art than ever before.

Get A Job (Or At Least Some Professional Connections)

Getting a job in the art scene is tough (again, unless your last name happens to be Koons). Social media is already a huge part of the job market – just try sending out resumes without your LinkedIn profile on them. That’s just one more way to use ARTDEX – it’s LinkedIn just for the art world! You can build professional connections and relationships with the galleries, collectors, artists, curators, and other members of the art world without having to go knocking on gallery doors and hoping they’ll let you in to show off what you’ve got. You can reach out to an art student all the way in Beijing or Cape Town or Sydney and share your recent projects and inspirations. You can connect to art professors to talk about an artist you both follow or an artwork you both like. If you’re an MFA student preparing for an exhibition or project, why not put some of your portfolio online? You can reach out to a curator and ask for comments.

Like any social media platform, you’ll get out what you put in. That means that the more you engage with the members and works on ARTDEX, the more they’ll engage with you and your art. You can start to build a reputation with the global art community from your couch – you don’t even have to change out of sweatpants!

Do Art Anywhere, Anytime

Just like Facebook lets you bring your friends wherever you go, ARTDEX gives you access to the art you love anywhere, anytime. You can keep all of the art you create and collect and care about in one place. Whether you’re at home, in class, in the studio, or at work, you can always connect with the art world.

It’s social, it’s all about art, and it’s free. If you’re an art student, you need it. So go ahead and sign up already! It’s time to start your digital art collection and showcase. Your professional art career and global network can start right here with just a few clicks. If you have time to Instagram it (and we know you do), you have time to ARTDEX it.

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