Talking shop with Art Bitch

In little over a year, Art Bitch has amassed over 7,500 followers across Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr – providing a friendly and accessible venue to promote arts and culture events, discussion and connections. With its mysterious but fun Wonder Woman profile picture, gaining a toehold in the online art world has proved easier than anticipated.

We recently wished Art Bitch happy birthday and had a chat about her busy first year.

MB: How did Art Bitch start?

AB: Art Bitch came about as the result of practicing as an artist, spending a lot of time going along to openings, talking to artists and identifying what I saw as a need – the need for more support between artists.

MB: How would you describe Art Bitch?

AB: Art Bitch is a wonderful human being and patron of the arts. And super-hero of sorts.

MB: What is the key philosophy or goal behind Art Bitch?

AB: Art Bitch is about supporting, giving back to the arts and creating opportunities for artists.

MB: Has that changed over the course of the year?

AB: Well we started out with very humble beginnings and now (thank goodness) we have lots of supporters and growing. And from all over the world. In fact, the more support I receive the more energy it gives me to move forward, create more opportunities, and give back to the arts even more.

MB: Why do you think Art Bitch has been so successful?

AB: I think it is a combination of reasons, really. Being supportive of everyone’s work and projects, making sure I reply to everyone and taking the time to pull all this together into a well-rounded selection of daily feeds without over-doing it.

OK, sometimes over-doing. But that’s just because there are just so many great things out there that need to be talked about and shared!

MB: Has your outlook on the arts changed through running the site?

AB: I find this incredibly rewarding. Possibly as much (hopefully) as others find it. Really. We all work in our own worlds sometimes and one of the great benefits of something like social media is that we all get to come back together and talk and share.

I am inspired by others all the time and this has helped me fall in love with the arts all over again. And again and again. I am so thankful to everyone for being a part of that and – based on some of the messages I receive, know that others feel exactly the same way. Phew.

MB: How important do you think social media is for the arts and for artists?

AB: Well I have to say VERY important here don’t I? But then I am a little biased. Really, I think it is personal choice. I know things like Facebook are not for everyone and I have had this conversation many a time. The idea with Art Bitch is to use social media and related mediums as a tool, and even more important than the tools are the ideas behind them – for example,  ‘I want to connect with lots and lots of artists and become part of a larger conversation about art where I can share and support other artists’.

Facebook and other related social platforms are just the tools I use to do that. In saying this however, you can’t dispute social media’s rise in popularity, and these tools can offer us great avenues of sharing our work, connecting with others and promoting your arts practice.

MB: What’s in the future for Art Bitch?

AB: This is a big question. We have been brainstorming all of the different ways we can take Art Bitch further and in the process support even more artists. We want to create opportunities for artists in as many ways we can and have this whole thing being more of a socially inclusive platform. This means opening up to contributors, running more projects and giveaways, gaining media and corporate support and then, giving even more back to artists of course.

Oh yeah, and one last little thing, this is a bit of a secret so shhh, but we might also be launching an online magazine which is open to contributions. That includes you. No seriously, it really does.

Phew.

Learn more about art and Art Bitch at anotherartbitchblog.tumblr.com