Author: Member Information Center

Why Pay To Join An Online Art Community?

June 11, 2021 (updated June 12, 2021) Published by

Deciding to use a large public platform for free or joining a private artist community for a monthly subscription isn’t always black and white. For example, if you consider joining artistvenu, or any private online artist community, you might find some of the feedback we received from a few active members during the past two years, helpful.

  • "Convenient way to have meaningful discussion with other artists"
  • "Fun and easy to use website"
  • "Welcoming & encouraging artist community"
  • "I discover and learn new things about art everyday"
  • "An Artist Community That Feels Like Family"
  • "No annoying advertising interfering with the content."
  • "Helpful resources & tips for my art practice"
  • "Friendly technical support system"
  • "The monthly subscription is very reasonable for what I receive"

To begin, why would I pay to join an online art community when I can use Facebook, Instagram and many others for free? Great question and aside from individual choice, the answer boils down to how one defines “free”.

Facebook is not one of the largest corporations in the world with more than 58,000 employees by allowing members to use their social network for free. The truth is, Facebook attracts and thrives on mass populations of “Free” users because of the billons made annually on advertising and more concerning, their marketing and sales of your usage data to global markets. What value should one place on the aggravation of annoying advertising and the loss of personal privacy and security while using “free” public platforms?

The next time you login to Facebook or Instagram, you might ask yourself how a network of this size covers it’s expense. You might question your privacy, security and exactly how you wish to share your artwork online and what your art practice communication needs and interests are, and if those objectives are available in a more secure and supportive environment.

Many can obviously overlook the fact that governments and large corporations purchase access to your content and behavior data for use in economic, election and political policy decision making. Many can also overlook the algorithms that control who and how many of your contacts will actually see the content that you post.

In addition to a clean design artistvenu provides a dynamic and simple to navigate artist community space that is protected and secure, fully supported, ad-free for you to share images of your work and/or discuss your art practice and art interests. Our community is private, non-political and welcoming to all socially respectful creative individuals. We promise that the only algorithms we work with are meant to keep the features our members enjoy functioning smoothly and to keep the bad guys out and away from your content and information.

We would like to know some of the experiences you have had with your art practice on large social networks and what you find unique about a smaller private artist community.

Join the stream topic discussion below.

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Getting Started

June 11, 2021 (updated June 12, 2021) Published by

In the beginning, approaching anything for the first time can seem unpredictable and daunting, especially so for some, if tech is involved.

Don’t worry, our community is extremely friendly and supportive, and our website easy to navigate with an integrated Member Information Center for support available around the clock, each time you visit the community.

If you are a new member, to get started, simply follow the 3 steps below:

1. Register A New Membership Subscription

Membership is required to access community content and interact with artist members. If you do not already have a membership, please look for the membership options button below.

To create an account for the first time, you will be prompted to choose a Username, Password and an account email address to receive community notifications, such as when another community member responds to your post or comments.

Next, after confirming your password and email address, you will be asked to enter your payment information for your subscription. We accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover.

You can securely enter your card number, expiration and CVC code. Once submitted successfully, you will be redirected to your new Artist Profile Page

2. Set-up Your Profile Page

IMPORTANT NOTE: An avatar and cover image is required to post images and engage in community discussion. Please follow the upload links on your profile page, in the avatar and cover image sections to add your images. If you need assistance, contact support by using the Help Desk link or post a support request on the Member Information Center group page.

3. Stream Posts, Comments & Reactions

Stream Posts: Content including images, text, audio files and hosted video links can only be posted to an Art Group where you are a member. Please note: The community streams located on your Profile Page and elsewhere on the site, are in View, Comment and Reaction mode only.

To add a new post, look for the “Post Box” (shown in Screen area sample 1 below) located at the top of each Art Group stream. Click once on this area

Screen area sample 1

Click once on this area to begin typing your post text or click the icon box indicated by the arrow below to open the options panel for your available storage device, allowing you to upload your media files.

Screen area sample 2

After your post content has been added, click the “Post” button to publish your post to the Art Groups stream.

Screen area sample 3

Comments: Any registered member who is logged in can comment on any post that appears in the stream of any Art Group they are a member of. You are also able to comment on any posts visible in your profile page stream and elsewhere in the community.

A “Comment Box” (shown in Screen area sample 4 below) is located at the bottom of each post. Click and begin entering your post comment.

Screen area sample 4

After you enter your new comment, click the “Post” button link to the right of the comment box (shown in the Screen area sample 5 below) to publish your comment to the Art Group stream.

Screen area sample 5

Reactions: Optional icons that express a certain emotion to a post such as a “Like” or heart for “Love” are available in an open panel by clicking the Thumbs Up icon (shown in Screen area sample 6 below).

Screen area sample 6

Click the “Reaction” that best expresses your feeling for the post (shown in Screen area sample 7 below), and your reaction will automatically be added to the post.

Screen area sample 7

That’s it! You’re ready to engage like a master!

Adding Posts, Comments and Reactions is much easier than it seems. Now, give it a try. Click the link below to subscribe to any or all of the available Art Groups, upload images for your avatar and profile cover, and begin engaging in stream discussion.

If you have already activated your member, you can begin right away. If you have not yet subscribed, please follow the button below to sign-up for the Studio Art Group(s) of your choice.

Subscribe

You can access this tutorial at any time in the “Member Information Center” by clicking the “Help Desk” icon in the top menu, and selecting “Member Information Center” from the dropdown panel that appears.

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