Art for Sale: Commercial Art Galleries on the World Wide Web

In a study of commercial art galleries on the World Wide Web, forty-seven sites with works of art for sale were classified with respect to design, network and offline presence, and services. Analyses of the characteristics of the galleries were used to define three dimensions along which commercial art galleries with real-world counterparts differ from exclusively "virtual" galleries: promotion, inclusiveness, and responsibility. Galleries with both virtual and real-world sites tend to offer more promotional expertise and assume greater responsibility for transactions and customer satisfaction.


Introduction

The World-Wide Web is but one component of a vast, rapidly growing internetwork of computers known collectively as the Internet. Ongoing development and liberal distribution of full-featured Web browsers like Netscape(TM), however, keep the Web at the leading edge of Internet growth. From within a single application, users can send email, chat, telnet to a remote site, perform extensive file searches, download software, and read Usenet news. Based on a hypertext paradigm (Barry, 1994; Greene, 1994), the Web allows for a truly multimediated interface to the Internet's resources. From within a single document users can view text, graphics, and movies, and listen to sound clips or real-time audio transmissions. As both an application and an information delivery system, the Web is replacing the earlier-generation gopher as the Internet's principal navigational tool (Howell, Lacy, & Sutter, 1994a, 1994b; Porterfield, 1994). Little wonder that new users, once prone to view the whole of the Internet as "email," now equate Internet access with Web access.



Monotype by Gail Perazzini

It is fitting for new consumers of computer communications technology to focus on the Web, for in many respects it stands alone as the Internet's commercial domain, and in fact is often referred to in the press, erroneously, as "the commercial part of the Internet." The very existence of the Internet is traditionally based on free exchange of information and resources, so commercial activity is not only not condoned, but actively militated against by a core cadre of long-time users who are quick to indoctrinate "newbies" (McLaughlin , Osborne, & Smith, 1995; Smith, McLaughlin, Osborne, in press). But federal subsidies of the Internet's electronic "backbone" have been gradually and purposefully replaced by for-profit network conglomerates such as MCI, Sprint, and their partners (Kahin, 1990), resulting in multiple, proprietary "backbones" (Fazio, 1995). While the culture of the Internet remains that of easy access and free distribution of information, the means of transport indicate the future of the information superhighway is driven by profit. The genesis and subsequent development of the graphical Web, coupled with the relentless quest for secure transaction technology, reflect a clear mandate to pursue this extraordinary commercial potential (Hoffman & Novak, 1995).

Much of the Web's recent growth results from the opening of Internet gateways by self-contained, proprietary online services such as Prodigy, America Online, and Compuserve (Savetz, 1995). With a pre-existing user base numbering in the millions and savvy marketing strategies -- the free 10-hour trial and ubiquitous load-and-go software disk is a staple insert in popular monthly computer magazines -- the major access providers continue to draw on a seemingly endless population of new and inveterate computer enthusiasts. In turn, these users are drawn to the Web with an easy point-and-click interface, the promise of a multimediated and interactive world of information, and most importantly, the ability to contribute resources of their own with nothing more than a modem-equipped home computer.

Rapid expansion of the Internet user base has resulted in demographic changes to that user base. A recent survey completed by GNN indicates the typical American Web surfer is both older and more affluent than the average Internet user of even a year ago (O'Reilly & Associates, 1995). The implications of such key demographic changes remain to be fully explored, but suggest a smaller proportion of users rely on free access provided by academic institutions and that more users may approach the Internet from a commercial perspective rather than looking to it for any one purpose such as entertainment, education, or email. Indeed, while Internet culture kept commercial enterprise to a minimum for many years, recent developments in online commerce have necessitated more rigorous policies on the part of both academic and corporate providers regarding the uses to which access accounts are put (for an early example, see Jacobsen, 1993).

Regulating unscrupulous use of educational or corporate accounts for commercial gain has not put a noticeable dent in the Internet's growth. Price wars among access providers are not uncommon, and a whole industry of geographically localized Internet access providers (IAPs) has challenged the triumvirate of traditional networking alternatives: university or corporate accounts, local bulletin boards (BBS), or information servers such as Prodigy and Compuserve, which for many years were nothing more than grandiose BBSs themselves. Access has never been easier or more economical, and the ability to self-promote or publish, along with the promise of financial gain for a relatively small capital outlay, is irresistible to many.

Selling Art on the World Wide Web

The Web has taken the business world by storm, and the "stampede" to acquire an electronic presence on the Web is well underway (McLaughlin, 1996; Neubarth, 1995). A "home page" is a personal point of pride, a social necessity, and a business imperative for those who wish to appear on the cutting edge. Despite its well-documented expansion and despite the realization of secure transaction technology, the Web as a marketing "promised land" remains relatively uncharted. Each day brings more business ventures to the Web, but there are relatively few reports of anyone hitting the mother lode of commercial success (Resnick & Taylor, 1995). "Don't quit your day job" could join "Your mileage may vary" as a popular catch phrase among the digerati. Still, certain types of businesses are more irresistibly drawn by the Web's promise than others. Art galleries, for instance, have been among the first segments of the business community to stake out the Web as a potentially lucrative supplemental venue for sales (Gaffin, 1994).

The Web is increasingly populated with the virtual presences of well-known and distinguished galleries along with a rising tide of cyber upstarts. Both types are finding "there's an art to selling art over the Internet" (Maddox, 1995). Traditional, tried-and-true exhibition and promotion practices are giving way to trial-and-error as galleries attempt to chart a course to prosperity amid swelling competition.

Art Online

Mezzotint by James Talmadge

Artists themselves have long embraced the computer as a medium of expression (Noll, 1993; Popper, 1993) and the Internet for creative networking (Grant, 1993; Malloy, 1994; McLaughlin, 1994; Wood, 1993). Recent emphasis on technological media such as CD-ROMs for digital reproduction and widespread distribution of traditional art, however, has museum and gallery administrators scrambling to keep a virtual eye on their curatorial interests (Besser, in press; Nowlin, 1995; Patton, 1994). While some of these administrators may despair at their seeming loss of control over context (Mitchell, 1992), others embrace new technology as a viable means to explore new contexts and expand their audiences (Broun, 1994).

Despite its current bandwidth limitations (large or high-resolution graphics still require an inordinate amount of load time), the Web has caught the attention of forward-thinking artists, administrators, and arts advocates alike. The American Arts Alliance, for example, uses its Web site to solicit support for pro-art policies in Washington (American Arts Alliance, 1995). Several major museums and collections have already established Web sites dedicated to showcasing particular features and exhibits. Among them are the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the British Library, and the Royal College of Art in London. Such venerable institutions as the Smithsonian and the Getty Museum are virtual neighbors to a steadily increasing number of college and university-sponsored galleries as well as private "commercial" galleries devoted to the sale of works rather than pure exhibition.

Mezzotint by James Talmadge

A previous examination (McLaughlin, 1994) of world wide Web art galleries revealed a fledgling commercial enterprise poised to catapult itself into the jetstream of online commerce. Art and the Web, it would seem, are ideally suited to each other. Easy-to create online forms promise to facilitate the conduct of business, allowing galleries to process orders over the network and keep track of their customer base. Digital scanning, compression, and multimedia-capable Web browsers invite extensive online exhibition, while progress in encryption technology promises secure financial transactions in a world-wide market. Still, the match made in virtual heaven is not without impediments. McLaughlin gives voice to the concerns of artists, their representatives, and their audiences in noting that copyright and authentication issues arising from the new media are unresolved (see especially Broun, 1994b; and Karnow, 1994). Furthermore, the democratizing aspects of an easily accessible conduit such as the Web threaten the exclusivity and elitism which has traditionally distinguished "fine art" from "lower" forms (Nowlin, 1995). While this threat is taken seriously by some, others see the confluence of art and technology as a sort of "grand experiment," a crisis of opportunity during a time of barrier breaking and boundary blurring:

"[T]oday we find that the idea of a high art dictated from a small aristocracy of critics, collectors, curators, and gallery owners no longer has much validity or power. There's a lot of excitement all across the country ... among folk artists and self-taught artists, among craft artists and photographers--as they emerge from the obscurity in which they long lingered. There is a new understanding of what quality means. It no longer implies a universal transcendent standard; instead, it means identifying different directions, traditions, and ideas in art and making distinctions of quality within each type. The "canons of masters" are beginning to share their stage. (Broun, 1994a)

Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the transition from the "real" art world to its digital counterpart is the apparent breadth and fluidity of the artists' stage. Heretofore, exhibition practice has been largely determined by physical space, and the problems of accessibility have contributed to notions of "high" versus "low" art along with "appropriate" exhibition practice (Sherman & Rogoff, 1994). Such distinctions blur in a physically, if not practically, unbounded space which prides itself on facile and democratic access. Furthermore, interactive technology is closing the gap between artists and their audiences, between content and delivery systems.

Connectivity, interaction, and emergence are now the watchwords of artistic culture. The observer of art is now in the centre of the creative process, not at the periphery looking in. Art is no longer a window onto the world but a doorway through which the observer is invited to enter into a world of interaction and transformation. (Ascott, 1993)

In what Ascott calls "the radically new role of the artist," context is shaped and presented as much as content, if not more so because content becomes a collaborative process in which artists and observers are one.

The implications of an unbounded, electronic creative space are many. Foremost, "studio" as "working space" and "gallery" as "exhibition space" become indistinguishable frames for artistic endeavor. Secondly, the notion that the artist's "message is in the work" takes on entire new levels of meaning when "work" is simultaneously product, process, and medium, and "message" is (at least) two-way and occurring sychronously or asynchronously. Last but not least is the implication that works (if not the artists themselves) which appear online are more open to critique by virtue of a global forum.

Both traditional media and electronic compositions are represented online. Traditional media are usually offered as digitally scanned photographs and slides of original works, the images compressed and at a less-than-optimum resolution. Moving images are also digitized and compressed for easier online exhibition and downloading, typically at a rate of five frames-per-second. Electronically generated works range from royalty-fee-based clip art to rendered 3D models (donation-ware) to complete interactive installations where viewers have the option of becoming participants in the artistic process (the OTIS Gallery is perhaps one of the oldest such installations).

Illustration by Thomas Helmintoller

Electronic gallery sites come in a variety of forms and functions: a site may consist of a single gallery representing several artists in the sale of works (for example, the CandyStick Gallery); it may be a simple slide-registry, an intermediary between buyers and artists who may be contacted directly (Art Direct); it may be a re-seller offering classified listings of works wanted and works available (Art Cellar Exchange); or the site may qualify as a sort of "meta-gallery," whereby the site maintainers provide any service from web space and maintenance to page layout and design for multiple galleries (Art-ROM Gallery). Any of these alternative forms of presentation may vary considerably with regard to artist representation. Some galleries do nothing more than display some form of the work, usually a low-resolution image, with a minimum of information such as dimensions, media, and price; others offer extensive artist biographies which may include exhibition histories and candid shots of the artists themselves or their studios.

Aside from the distinctions which may be made regarding form and function, online commercial galleries may be distinguished on the basis of whether a "real world" counterpart gallery exists. Although they may be better equipped, from an economic standpoint, to exploit the full capability of the Web's multimedia and interactive features, physically-based galleries may be less open and "experimental" in their exhibition practices than are virtual galleries (McLaughlin, 1996). Well-established purveyers of art may be reluctant to parlay their offline images of exclusivity and distinction into a more free-wheeling approach to mass Web audiences. Galleries with physical presence may tend to offer more works of traditional media, but they may also have the reputation and expertise to take a more active role in representing the artist.

An exponentially expanded audience must be enticed and, perhaps more frequently than is realized, educated. By contrast, consider the privileged ambience of a showing in a "real world" gallery versus idle web surfers virtually stumbling across a "cool" gallery site. Careful construction of the online exhibition space requires anticipating casual, as well as enthusiastic, audiences. As noted above, the online gallery allows innovative forms of representation, thereby perhaps altering both artist-seller and artist-buyer relationships, as well as buyer-seller relationships.

Painting by Joy Calonico
Given the persistent growth of the Web and its much-touted commercial promise, another look at art galleries on the Web is warranted. The study reported below continues the exploration of online artspace, focusing exclusively on the trends and trajectories of commercial galleries. Specifically, this study examines the variety of gallery forms and functions as art exhibition culture makes the transition from a physically-bound space to one in which physical boundaries are largely irrelevant and exhibition boundaries are as yet to be determined. One implication of the transition is that promotional and representation practices may change. Galleries may take a more or less active role in artist representation and assume an active educational role in anticipation of more casual audiences. Another implication is that digital media will augment more traditional offerings. One important question is whether digital media will serve merely to enhance the exhibition of traditional works or be offered for sale.


Procedures

Commercial art sites for the study were selected from a list of sites posting announcements to the NCSA What's New and the Yahoo What's New pages during the months of March, April, May, and June of 1995. After duplicate entries and non-commercial galleries were removed from the resulting list, each site was given a preliminary review to determine (a) if in fact works of art were available for sale at the site, and (b) if the site displayed the works (or was under construction in anticipation of displaying the works) of multiple artists. Those sites which did not meet both criteria were eliminated as were any which presented persistent difficulties in access. Items were randomly discarded from the list to reduce the number to fifty sites. Of the fifty remaining, three were eventually excluded from the study because of access difficulties. The 47 commercial art sites included in the study were A and B Design, Arrival, Art Cellar Exchange, Art Direct, Artist's Point Gallery, ArtNetWeb, Art.Online, The Art Store, Art to Live With, ArtWorks Gallery, Artworks Gallery, James Baird Galleries, Bergamot Station Arts Center (multiple galleries), Bridge Square Gallery, British Columbia Virtually Yours! - Artisans' Gallery, Candystick Gallery, Linda Cannon Gallery, The Canyon, The Collection, The CyberGallery, East End Portfolio, Elite Fine Art Gallery, Elliott Brown Gallery, Find-Arts (includes Creiger-Dane Gallery), Galerie d'Art, The Golden Spirit Gallery, The greencART MALL, Guildhall, Inc., hyperVision, Internet Shopping Galleria Art Gallery, Island Art Publishers, The Issacs/Inuit Gallery, JAAM Original Art, Markel/Sears Works on Paper, MauiWeb Gallery, Mirror Images Gallery, Muscovy Imports, Native American Art Gallery, The Pope Gallery, Ravenwood Studios Fine Art Gallery, Rock and Roll Digital Gallery, Sante Fe Southwest Artists Marketspace, Santa Fe Fine Art, Scope Gallery, Scultura Arts Forum, Waxlander Gallery, Wentworth Gallery, and The Williams Gallery. (The reader should note that non-standard spellings and use of lower and upper case are common among Web galleries).

All data were collected July 8-July 15, 1995. The coding form used in recording information about the sites was an online survey which could be viewed in a Netscape Web browser window so that the coder could easily move back and forth between the art site and the coding forms. Completed forms were then E-mailed in by pressing a submit button at the bottom of the form. Items included on the coding form are presented in Appendix 1.

Data from a subset of the 173 raw indicators on the coding form were selected, and in some cases collapsed and combined, to provide seventeen variables for the present analysis: real-world gallery (yes/no); relationship to artist (represents, provides slide registry, provides classifieds, provides page design for publishers, or provides page design for multiple galleries); number of artists; number of female artists; information (number of discrete informational units offered) about the artists; information about the works of art; courtesy information (help for WWW newcomers); information about the gallery; number of discrete types of document elements such as number of decorations (inline images, logos, fancy bullets, etc., hypertextual images (interactive thumbnails, imagemaps, etc.); extensions (HTML3.0 and Netscape tags), interactive forms, and other advanced design features (Web chat, dynamic document updating, etc). The remaining variables were networking and promotion strategies, variety of forms of art available, artist-orientation (online sign up, explicit fee structure, etc), and customer-orientation (secure credit card transactions, slide previewing, guarantees, etc).

Factor analysis

A factor analysis was conducted to extract the dimensions underlying ratings of galleries; loadings of the variables on the dimensions uncovered by the factor analysis were used to develop a more parsimonious set of descriptive measures. The dichotomous grouping variable real-world gallery was not included in the analysis. One of the forty­seven cases had a missing value on the number-of-female-artists measure and was consequently dropped from further analysis. The rotated factor matrix is presented in Table 1.


A three-factor solution accounting for 47% of the variance was selected. Eigenvalues, respectively, were 3.57, 2.01, and 1.95. High-loading items on the three factors (primary loading of .70 and no secondary loadings of > .40) were used to create three composite scales. From Factor 1 the items networking and information about the gallery were combined to create a new composite index, promotion (alpha reliability = .80). From Factor 2 three items, number of artists, number of female artists, and variety of artworks were combined to create the composite index, inclusiveness (alpha reliability = .83). From Factor 3 two items, customer-orientation and relationship to artist, were combined to create a third composite index which we labeled responsibility (alpha reliability = .51), a measure of the extent to which the gallery assumed full responsibility for representing the artist and assuring customer satisfaction.

Results

Sample Summary

The sample consisted of 47 electronic galleries, listed above, with sites on the World Wide Web. Of these, roughly 62 percent (n=29) indicated the existence of a physical counterpart, i.e., an address to which customers could go and view or buy works from featured (or other) artists.

Discriminant analysis

Discriminant analysis provides a multivariate analysis-of­variance test of the hypothesis that two or more groups differ significantly on a linear combination of a set of dependent measures.A step-wise discriminant analysis was conducted to test the hypothesis that galleries with a physical counterpart to the virtual one would differ from "merely virtual" galleries with respect to the three composite indices, promotion, inclusiveness, and responsibility.

The Wilks' lambda criterion was used for the discriminant analysis, with values of F­to­enter and F­to­remove set to 1.0. Prior probabilities were set at the default value of .50. Box's M was 3.17 ( p < .39), indicating that the within­group covariance matrices were homogeneous. The discriminant analysis resulted in a significant linear combination of two of the dependent variables, promotion and responsibility, which maximally discriminated between commercial and noncommercial sites (lambda =.86, Chi­square = 6.31, p < .05). The real-world group of galleries had the higher mean score (.49 vs. ­.31) on the discriminant function, indicating that real-world gallery sites generally were more likely to exploit network opportunities for promoting their business and were more likely to assume full responsibility for all aspects of the transaction between artist and buyer of art. Although the inclusiveness variable was removed from the discriminant function, univariate means testing indicated that a slight, nonsignificant tendency for the real-world galleries to be less inclusive. A test of the predictive ability of the discriminant function indicated that the linear combination of the two variables, promotion and responsibility, was able to reclassify 68% of the galleries correctly with respect to the grouping variable.

Discussion

Our results suggest galleries with proven experience in the real world are better able to translate that experience online and to serve the interests of the artist. Most importantly, such galleries appear to bring their standards for customer service online as well. These galleries are more likely to explicitly state their customer satisfaction policies, possibly because over time the online and offline trade may take on a symbiotic relationship whereby the practices (and ultimate success) of one has some relationship to the practices (and success) of the other. As a rule, dual-venue galleries seem reluctant to alter their modes of operation appreciably from established practice, and only time will tell whether this tendency remains productive or becomes inhibitory.

An area of considerable variety is how the transactions themselves are conducted. Some galleries simply provide contact information, a phone number or email address for the interested buyer to contact the artist directly. This necessarily skews the observations of artist information provided, but does not effect the degree of representation observed. Future studies of how artists are represented online will need to make careful distinctions between types of information offered. Other galleries offer elaborate schemes to pinpoint the buyer's interest, or more likely, the buyer's commitment, and then conclude business by telephone or other offline means. Very few galleries from our sampling frame were using electronic means to conduct the entire transaction.

A surprisingly little amount of viewer education activity was observed. "Instruction" was limited to optimized viewing strategies: browser, color depth, and screen resolution. Purely electronic galleries were more likely to offer gallery-specific information, such as ownership and staff, overall mission, customers, and artist-representation arrangements. Dual venue galleries seemed more inclined to rely on their real world reputations and simply present their featured works and pertinent sales information.

The World Wide Web of Art is a bustling industry with room for the savvy cottager as well as Sotheby's and Christie's (both of which have online presences), but budding soloists should beware: the competition is already fierce. The well-represented artist, whether online or off, still has the advantage over the under-represented, not only in terms of promotional potential but also because such artists are freed of mundane business details. The more extensive online gallery services should continue to grow in size and presentation resources, while the small, start-up galleries will continue to face increasing competition both online and offline. Still, some exposure is better than none, and the potential profits to be had online are difficult to undercut with such low overhead costs.

In a business where exposure is everything the advantages of launching a virtual presence on the web cannot be overstated, but neither can the risks be understated. Unauthorized use and copyright issues are ongoing problems for artists and their representatives, and while larger galleries may have the wherewithal to pursue property right abuses with legal recourse, this ability may simply translate into higher costs for artists or a reluctance to handle certain artists or types of works. One of the gallery sites in our original sample serves as a perfect illustration of the perils and pitfalls of consigning one's works to the Web. What was once a thriving exhibition area is now a simple message to the effect that

[Artist name deleted] Studio has decided to remove its home page from the Internet due to the overwhelming number of people wishing to use his photographs free of charge with (and probably without) permission.

The issue of intellectual and artistic property rights is bound to have a profound impact on electronic commercial activity. For now, however, online vendors and exhibitors are obviously feeling their way. The means of protecting works are as varied as the means of producing and exhibiting them. Perhaps the most typical method is a simple copyright statement imposed on or appended to a low-resolution image of the work. Some have gone so far as to deface the images in a way that renders them reproductibly unappealing (e.g., "SAMPLE" inscribed across the image) while promising that the purchased work will be of much finer quality and, of course, without the "graffiti."

Electronic commercial galleries come and go with volatile regularity and for any number of unknown reasons. The most common may be simply a lack of access while the original site maintainer is in transition from one institution to another or one provider to another. Several of the galleries in our original sample are no longer accessible, but perhaps the most striking point is that few (or none) of these are virtual galleries with physical counterparts. For reasons that remain to be explored, an anchor to the "real world" apparently gives the online gallery a sense of literal permanence.

There are as yet discernable differences between exclusively virtual galleries and those with off-line counterparts. These differences present a paradox for the artist just venturing into Web space. On the one hand, the artist is able to pursue a global audience unfettered by physical and curatorial constraints; on the other hand, a lack of curatorial, promotional, and network expertise may mean more maintenance and less time for creative work for the artist. Someone has to mind the store, regardless of whether it is virtual or physical.

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Appendix 1

Coding Form for Commercial Art Sites Study

Gallery Name:

URL:

Document Title:

Is there a real­world counterpart to the virtual gallery?

Yes No

If so, where?

Is site maintenance and/or page design outsourced?

Yes No Not clear

CONDUCTING COMMERCE AT THE GALLERY

Does the gallery overtly solicit artists to represent/list?

Yes No

What is the nature of the relationship between the art site and the artist?

The site belongs to a single gallery which represents the artist in the sale of works

The site provides listings/slide registry of individual artists who may be contacted

directly

The site provides classified listings of works of art for sale

The site provides page design/Web space for publishers of artists' works

The site provides page design/Web space for multiple galleries

What means are available to submit artworks for representation? On­line (ftp site,

uuencoded email) Off­line (mail slides, diskettes)

Does the gallery offer on­line signup for artists or sellers wishing to lease space/be

represented? Yes No

What does the gallery offer to do for the artist? (paste offer of services to artists into

window below)

Is there an explicit statement of the fee structure for representing/listing artists?

Yes No

What strategies are employed to protect the artist's copyright?

Simple "copyright artist'sname"

Statement copyright policy/acceptable use

Low resolution version of images

Alter images ("sample" imprinted)

Inline images only

None

Is there a clear indication that works of art at the site are for sale?

Yes No

(If, no, skip ahead to the section "DESIGN CHARACTERISTICS OF GALLERY")

Which of the following does the gallery sell/list?

Originals

Artist's proofs

Limited edition prints

Open edition prints

Printer's proofs

Remarques

Reproductions

Gallery products or services are sold:

On­line Off­line Both

Does the gallery offer to send slides for previewing of works?

Yes No

Does the gallery offer a guarantee of satisfaction/have a refund policy?

Yes No

Forms of ordering offered:

Artist is to be contacted directly

Art seller is to be contacted directly

Art distributor is to be contacted

Surface mail to gallery

Email to gallery

Toll­ free call to gallery

Toll call to gallery

FAX to gallery

Fill­in form to gallery

Check

Certified check

Credit card

Money order

Will bill

Virtual bank card/check

If payment can be made on­line by credit card, does the site offer secure transport of

credit card information?

Yes No

What is the price range of typical works for sale at the gallery?

under $50

$50­$499

$500­$4999

$5000­$14999

$15000 and above

Is the gallery actively recruiting for staff?

Yes No

DESIGN CHARACTERISTICS OF GALLERY

Is password registration required to gain access?

None is required

Required to gain access to certain features

Required to gain access to all/any features

Top­level organization of collection(s) by:

Artist

Medium (image/animation; painting/drawing/print)

Contexts (geographic, chronological, style)

Analogy to physical spaces (walk, room, wing, annex)

Individual works

Decoration:

Original logo

Fancy bullets

Legend

Inline images

Transparent gifs

Hypertextual/navigational artwork:

Hypertextual thumbnails

Fancy buttons

Menu bar

Imagemap

Player bar for movies, sound

Extensions:

Tables

Backgrounds

Background color

Text/link colors

Blinking text

Custom hard rules

Non­standard alignment of images

Author control of font sizes

Author control of borders

File formats supported:

gif

jpg

wrl

avi

flc

mpg

mov

ps

pdf

Forms:

Comments Page (Email to Curator, Artists; Guest Book)

Keyword search (archives, data base)

Order form

Voting form

Questionnaire/survey

Other Features:

Live video image

Threaded news

Number of visitors report

Web chat

Updated images (server push/pull)

Continuity:

Page layouts functionally equivalent

Logo present on every page

Uniform use of color and graphics

Balance: Is site predominantly text or graphics/features?

Text

Graphics and/or Features

Balanced between text and graphics/features

Navigation

Internal anchors

Return/back button

"Go anywhere" menu bar

GALLERY CONTENT

Still images, computer­generated:

Digital photographs

Paint or photomanipulation works

Rendered (raytracing, 3D)

Algorithmic (fractals, genetic art)

Scanned still images, analog art:

Photographs

Drawings (pen and ink, pencil, charcoal, chalk)

Paintings (oils, acrylics, watercolors, tempera)

Prints (woodcut, engraving, lithograph, silk­screen)

Miscellaneous artworks (CD covers, rave flyers, posters, animation cels,

sculptures and assemblages, installations, textiles. furniture, ceramics,

clips from videos)

Moving images:

Animations (fractal animations,genetic algorithm animations, morphs,

raytrace and 3D animations)

Digitized videos from movies and television

Other art forms with images:

Graphic novels or comic books

Illustrated poems, essays and short stories

Information about the artists

Artists' portraits

Artists' bios, resumes and/or exhibition records

Artists personal statements

Home pages, hyperlinks on artists' statements

Artists' email addresses

Artists' individual mailboxes (mailto form)

Artists' surface mail addresses and/or phone/FAX numbers

Picture of studio/shop

Number of artists featured:

Number of women artists:

Information about the works presented:

Name of artist

Title/caption of work

Extended caption

Date produced

Approximate image file size

Image file format

Price

Dimensions

How work was made/medium

Number in the series

Courtesy information:

Index or menu for viewers without graphics

Information about/pointers to helper applications

Information about/pointers to browsers

Information about file formats

Other information about the gallery available:

Mission statement

Directions to the gallery

Arrangements for representing artists

Customers/clients of the gallery

Staff of the gallery

How­to/technical

What's new?

Press Releases

Reference shelf (bibliographies, databases)

About the maintainer

NETWORKING AND PROMOTION

Tips for artists

Vendor presence

Newsletter

Mailing list

Pointers, hot links

Real­world meetings, salon

Promotional items (mugs and t­shirts)

Affiliated newsgoup

Sponsor collaborations

Sponsor on­line meetings/"speakers"

Post annotations

Professional organization /arts collective link

Listing of shows, CFPs, conferences

Affiliated gopher/ftp site

Resident critic/columnist

Contests and awards

Criticism/reviews

Affiliated BBS

Discounts/specials on art­related materials

Sponsor events (festivals, seminars)

Studio/design firm affiliation

Invite studio/gallery visits

List of seminars given

Pointers to other galleries (list):

Pointed to by other galleries (list):

Use this space for any other comments you might have: