Success Story:
GlogauAIR
GlogauAIR is an ArtConnect member since 2011
How a Berlin-based artist residency program used ArtConnect’s premium tools for organizations to grow its network and reach new applicants around the world.
Non-profit project space and artist residency GlogauAIR was founded by artist Chema Alvargonzalez in 2006. Since then, the program has been inviting more than 50 artists a year to produce and present work throughout its 13 studio spaces, located at the site of Chema’s former studio building in Berlin Kreuzberg.
As a meeting place for international artists, GlogauAIR has welcomed residents from Colombia, Qatar, South Korea, the US, Argentina, Japan, Australia, and France, among others. Every three months, the residency program culminates in an Open Studios event, giving artists the chance to showcase their final projects to the public.
Over the last year, the program has also expanded online to offer virtual residency opportunities to artists who are unable to travel, but are interested in developing a project with the community and support of GlogauAIR. This has enabled GlogauAIR to make the program more inclusive, while opening up the possibilities of reaching a broader international audience.
GlogauAIR’s building, Berlin
The Challenge
To connect with artists, GlogauAIR relies on art listings platforms and social media to share its open calls and reach a wide pool of potential applicants -- regardless of where they are based, their career stage, or discipline.
As a small-scale, non-profit organization, the team faced the challenge of further expanding its artist network, connecting with qualified applicants around the world, and continuing to offer artists the best possible experience, without exceeding its marketing budget.
These concerns play a key role for GlogauAIR, when it comes to choosing a platform to publish open calls and promote the residency program. According to the organizers, “when we decide to spend from our marketing budget we want to be sure that it will help improve our program and contribute positively to the experience of artists who take part in the residency at GlogauAIR.”
With this aim of prioritizing value and support for artists, GlogauAIR found common ground with ArtConnect -- the “go-to resource for artists” -- joining the platform in 2011. Since then, GlogauAIR has come to use the platform more and more, especially when announcing open calls: “ArtConnect helps to increase the awareness of our organization, and we trust them to help us to connect to new applicants, artists, professionals, collaborators and visitors.“
Here’s how GlogauAIR has made the most of the organizational tools offered by ArtConnect to connect with artists, promote their program, and further establish their brand.
“ArtConnect helps to increase the awareness of our organization, and we trust them to help us to connect to new applicants, artists, professionals, collaborators and visitors.“
Reaching success
Consider the artists’ point of view
Founded by an artist and working with artists at all stages of their careers over the last 15 years, GlogauAIR recognizes the value and importance of considering the artist’s perspective:
“Some websites where we are listed don’t seem like they are made with artists in mind. They don’t have the best layout or the most intuitive... ArtConnect does think from the artist point of view and this is important for us.”
The organization has made use of ArtConnect’s intuitive design and has already seen an impact. Their program receives increased recognition from interested artists, “because of the clean and simple way that we can present all aspects of our residency space.“
This, in tandem with ArtConnect Magazine’s artist resource articles, has allowed GlogauAIR to more easily meet artists' needs and further focus on supporting and enabling career development -- from the application process to the residency program, and beyond.
Connect with artists outside of your network
For GlogauAIR, expanding their artist network means opening up new possibilities of exchange -- one of the core aspects of their program.
Though the organization had already built up a strong network over the years, they found it difficult to reach outside of it and connect with new audiences. “We aspire to have artists from all over the world join our program and there are few sources to reach those artists... ArtConnect is helping us reach a wider audience, and find new applicants outside of our network.”
Of those who come to the website via ArtConnect, the organizers say, “more than 90% of the visitors are New Visitors for us.” To further increase their reach, GlogauAIR also started using ArtConnect’s promotional tools to boost their open calls at crucial points, bringing even more attention and applications to the program, while allowing the team to track their success. “We had challenges tracking and monitoring the impact of our advertising campaigns, and ArtConnect allowed us to keep track of that much more easily and advertised GlogauAIR for us.“
Match with high-quality applicants
With ArtConnect’s search and eligibility filters and personalized recommendations, opportunities reach artists faster and match with qualified applicants more easily. As the organization notes, “more serious artists who are truly interested in our program visit GlogauAIR because we are on ArtConnect.”
In fact, since GlogauAIR began using ArtConnect, they’ve seen a steady increase in the overall percentage of applications coming in through the platform. “It is great to see the number of applicants that come through ArtConnect grow each time,” say the organizers, adding that it’s “not just more applicants, but more highly suited applicants, which gives us more options when it comes to selecting artists. Ultimately, that is the biggest benefit.“
”ArtConnect is helping us reach a wider audience, and find new applicants outside of our network.”
GlogauAIR’s building, Berlin
Next steps
GlogauAIR has worked more closely and strengthened its relationship with ArtConnect since bringing its residencies and open studios online in 2020 as a result of the pandemic. Now running a hybrid program, with residencies taking place both online and on site, GlogauAIR is also planning to introduce more programming with local guest artists, as well as to open up its garden space to artistic use. To promote these programs and make sure artists find their open calls, GlogauAIR plans to use ArtConnect:“That’s what is so great about ArtConnect -- we can use it to reach artists halfway across the world or find new ones in our own backyard.”