Some of the most avid social networkers are women between 18 and 29, so it is not surprising that Scripps College is the first among the colleges to use Facebook to organize an art exhibition. Through Facebook, more than 100,000 people have been exposed to the art contest promotion, which demonstrates the vast reach of social network marketing.
During the two-week promotion, which runs through February 17, everyone has the chance to vote via Facebook for their favorite from among six pieces selected from the permanent collection. The work with the most votes will be the centerpiece of an exhibition organized by student interns at the Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery at Scripps. One student from the Claremont Colleges, chosen at random from among those who voted, will join these interns to make up the curatorial committee. On March 21, they will present the exhibition in Gallery 112, on the Scripps campus. This is the first of a series of Art Pix exhibitions, designed to engage students with the Scripps permanent collection, which is known for its Asian textiles, contemporary ceramics, and growing collections of contemporary prints and photographs.
Highlighting the diversity of the Scripps art collection, choices include a woman’s brilliant orange Chinese court robe; dramatic black-and-white photographs by Helen Levitt and Graciela Iturbide; trompe l’oeil ceramic sculpture by Marilyn Levine; a large woodcut by Alison Saar; and a graphite drawing on vellum by Elizabeth Turk. Saar, who in 2005 received the New York City Art Commission Excellence in Design Award, and Turk, who recently won a MacArthur genius grant, are Scripps alumnae.
For this social media project, the Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery partnered with Promojam.com, a leading-edge social marketing platform, which has successfully promoted artists, including Alicia Keys, Justin Bieber, Muse, and Pearl Jam, and companies such as Comcast, Clear Channel and many others. “With this contest, we were able to expand our base of student fans, follow the response in real time, and easily manage the social media promotion. This is a creative and fun way to expand our audience for art at Scripps,” says Gallery Director Mary MacNaughton.