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If this page is just too much to deal with, we understand.

That's why I have put together a much easier How To Join DallasArtsRevue page.

Send me an email saying you want to join, and she'll help you every step of the way.

Thanks,
the editor

DARts Membership

Membership costs $100 to start or rejoin after more than a 30-day lapse. Make check payable to J R Compton, not the name of this publication. He's the publisher.

Rejoining within the original period of membership (check the Members Index to learn your expiration date anytime) is $75.

New Memberships include six images of your work on your member page. If you rejoin within the period of previous membership, you get one additional image each time you extend your membership.

DallasArtsRevue correspondence is via email.

Check the Members Index page at least once a month.

That's where information important to Supporting Members goes. Things like member show opportunities, scam warnings, availability of a fresh new email PR list some agency has accidentally let out to all recipients instead of CCing them, etc.

If you need me to know something, email me. I check email more often than I check my phone. My latest email address is always on the Contact us page linked at the top every one of the nearly 1,300 web pages on this site.

I welcome good, bad or evil emails from anyone, but I pay special attention to members' needs and desires. If you make a suggestion, I'll pay attention and consider it.
 

Every time you or your art is involved in a show or event, email the full information (show title, open times and date,end date and the names of all artists in the show — as shown in The Pink Box on the Calendar page) , so we can list your event on the calendar and link your name to your Member page.

The more links to your page on the internet — especially from an information-filled, often-linked-to and Google-indexed site like this one, the more easily Search Engine Found you are.

I will take every opportunity to promote your page, but you have to tell us every single time you are in shows or other art events — anywhere. We put those notices in the calendar and on the members index page.
 

PLEASE NOTE: The name of this website is  D a l l a s A r t s R e v u e. We sometimes shorten it to DARts. DAR is the Daughters of the American Republic, and we're nothing like them. All one word, no spaces, like a web address. Add .com and you're here.

Please look carefully at our name in big red letters on the top of almost all 400+ of our web pages on this site. Arts is plural with an s on the end, and Revue is spelled R e v u e. Not some other way you may have lodged in your mind, although that other spelling dot com might still get you here.

If you can spell the name of this site correctly in all correspondence with the already-curmudgeonly editor, he will look much more favorably upon you and your needs.

Almost nobody yet has figured out the short version for that name that I often use in text. It's what the Artists Coalition of Texas called DallasArtsRevue when they took it over way back in the early days of this publication when this was printed on paper. They called it Darts. Later, after insisting that I change the name of this publication on paper to Texas Arts Revue, they renamed themselves D-art. So it's a long and inglorious past I refer to when I call it DARts.

D for Dallas. A for Arts. R for Revue. Little ts on the end, so it seems like there's more than one of them, I guess. Or maybe is the editorial we plural. DARts.
 

The end dates for your current membership are listed on the Members Index page. If you can't remember when your membership is up, look there, although Anna will probably send you an email a month or two before it expires.

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Norman Kary   Blue Man with Hand

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How to Join DallasArtsRevue

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Send a check payable to “J R Compton”
My bank won't take checks made out to anything else.

Mail to

Include

Don't forget to include your email address. Without it we cannot communicate.

Membership:

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Prices may be posted on your page. We do not sell art, and we do not charge commissions. Most members choose not to include prices. I agree, except I sometimes list prices in features and stories.

All DallasArtsRevue.com pages — including member pages — are copyrighted by J R Compton. All Rights Reserved. They may not be reproduced anywhere else without specific written permission. Which is to say, you cannot copy your DallasArtsRevue Supporting Member page onto the internet for your own use. 
 

Dallas Arts Revue IS NOT a Nonprofit Organization.

It just works out that way.

Contributions are not tax-deductible, except as a legitimate business expense for a subscription to a business-related publication, or membership in a professional organization. These should be listed on tax forms.

DallasArtsRevue is not beholden to anyone, and the Editor takes his fiercely independent status seriously.

The reason DallasArtsRevue is not a nonprofit organization, is so there won't be some well-meaning but essentially stupid board of idiots telling me what I can't do or say. I have served on boards of directors, so I know.

At one time DallasArtsRevue was published by a nonprofit art organization that assured me I'd always have full editorial control. When they started telling me what I could and could not write about, I invoked the contract I had carefully written to avoid such foolishness and began publishing independently again.

Those turkeys called DallasArtsRevue — "Darts." Then they changed their name to D-Art. Curiously familiar huh? No wonder they changed their name several times after that. I knew who I was, but I'm not sure they know who they are, yet. 
 

1.  Decide which 6 images you want on your DARts Member page.
 

1 additional image each time you resubscribe before your expiration date.

State the exact order you want your images to appear on the page (either in your email to me or in a text-only (.txt) document burned to your CD and

Identify all your pieces per the Caption information below in the text of an email. Just put them in the order you want them to appear.

If you send me a big bunch of images wanting me to decide what goes on your page, I'll procrastinate choosing. I'm good at procrastinating. You choose. Most of the rest of the site reflects my choices.

It's your page, and it should reflect you and your tastes. Don't get a friend who knows nothing about art to choose what pieces should be on your member page. You choose. We all have difficulty choosing our best work. You probably need the practice, and don't just send me your moldy oldies. Send at least one piece that was done recently, preferably this year.

Send at least one that scares you to show it to anyone. That's the one you will look back on later and think, "Wow, that was really me, only I didn't realize it then."

Do not include the white space around your work in the images you submit, because it makes it more difficult to work them up and makes them a lot smaller on the page, because all that stupid white space will take up the size. Frame your images exactly. I'll put plenty of white space around them on the page itself. Don't worry.

I almost always publish horizontal images 777 pixels wide and vertical images up to 10 inches tall at 555 pixels wide.

I hate PDFs. Do not send me PDFs. 

Be sure the CD you burn is universal format. You probably do PC. I'm Mac, and Macs don't open pure PC CDs.

After you think you've burned a CD, eject it. Then put it back in and see if anything's there. I get a lot of blanks.

Name your image files intelligently. "001" is not an intelligent file name. Name image files by your name and the title or a shortened version of the title of the piece in the image. I.e., John Furbish - Wet Clothes

For more info about images, see our How to Send Us Images page.
 

Name the CD with your name. I.e., Fiona M. Furd and nothing else.

See my extensive and very popular story, How to Photograph Art for more information about file names, preparing images for a CD and other critical information.

Name the individual files with your last name, a hyphen - and a shortened version of the title of that piece.

Do not name image files with commas, semicolons, colons, #, $, ¢, %, @, !, ^, &, *, (, ), =, ", ', “, ” or more than one period. Stick with letters and numbers, please.

Do not include dimensions or prices in the file name — just your name and the work's title.

Do not include spacebar spaces in the file name. Use hyphens instead of spaces.

Alexander Troup   Mudman Recovering   2002   collage, photo   7 x 7 inches
 

Please get me all the information for each piece on your page at one time in one email, in the order you want them shown on your page.

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2.  Send the text you want on your page.
 

Read The Editor's Guidelines on What to Say on Your Page.

Do not attach title information to emails. Type all that stuff in the text of an email. Type it in the text of an email.

Read Caption Information below.

DO NOT TYPE IN ALL CAPTITAL LETTERS. I jst hafe to retipe that infurmatin, and believe me, you do nut want me retypink anyth-ng important to yu.

Resumes will not be specially formatted, although I'm sometimes inspired and make them look pretty good. Spacebar spaces in emails do not translate into the right spaces in web page formats.

If you send me tabbed columns, I have to reformat it and that takes time and temper. If I'm angry at you for ignoring my rules, your page will suffer. Usually I just procrastinate doing it. I'm very good at procrastinating.

Don't use curly quotes.

Our How to Send Stuff to DARts page includes easy instructions for copying word processor or other computer text into the body of an email. This used to be difficult for most people. Now, it's almost too silly to mention. Except that some people do not understand.

DARts will be happy to link your email address and/or other sites from your DARts Supporting Membership page. They are placed below all your images.

Send those in the text of an email in full http://www.XXX.xxx format.

I balk at listing your home address or phone number, but if you insist, you may. I think it's a bad idea, because using email addresses allow us to screen personal access. Too many people already have our phone numbers.
 

Official DARts style for captions

Cecilia Thurman   Quake   2004   collagraph/intaglio print   30 x 30 inches

Artist's Name   Title  year   medium   size in inches (or feet)

This is our new standard format for captions. Please send your caption information in this precise order. Do not attempt to center them, and do not label the information, i.e., "photo 1," etc., because I'll just have to edit all that out, and editing out stuff I told you not to clude in only makes me cranky.

Please capitalize the title (but don't submit it in all capital letters).

Do not use quotation marks for titles.

If you ignore these rules, I'll send your text back suggesting you read this page, so we can do it again.
 

The order is:

your name   title   date  medium and size on the next line

(Size is always rendered as number x number inches, feet, miles or whatever). Height first. Width second. Always. Not just here.

Leave the space between numbers and Xs.

DO NOT USE quote marks " for inches or ' for feet.

We spell out everything. No abbreviations.

We only say inches or feet once — at the end.

Unless your medium is a brand name, do not capitalize it. Unless your medium is a brand name, do not capitalize it. Unless your medium is a brand name, do not capitalize it.

The medium known as acrylic is not a brand name; oil is not a brand name; collage is not a brand name.

If you send images on a CD, include on that CD a text-only (.txt) file listing your caption information down the page in the exact order you want your images to appear.

If you do not know what order to show them, I want the most recent image first. If you know, I'd appreciate if you would show your latest images on top. If you don't have a latest image from this (far preferable) or last (much less interesting) year, you are not making enough art.

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3.  I'll create your web page(s).

Second pages usually don't get as many hits as first pages, unless people like your art and want to see more of it or are so fascinated they just gotta read all about you.

David Hickman's second page (his resume) has been one of the most popular DARts Member Pages (But then he was the 2004 State of Texas "3-D Artist of the Year" and he is a very talented and busy guy.)

You can have all your information and images on one page, instead.

Many, but not all, DARts Members choose this option. Several who originally chose two pages, now have only one.

I'll include your words, pictures and links to your email address(es) and/or other websites. Just spell them out — including the "http://" part.

Producing your page is free.

You can do it yourself if you just have to.

If you insist on doing your own page, realize that:

All pages must adhere to established DARts Membership Design and Specifications (below).

The best way to send HTML is to include it in the text of an email or burned as a text-only (.txt) file on a CD along with your images. (Web pages are text files.)

Heather Gorham - Red Thread Serenade, 2005
acrylic on wood, steel - 51 x 29 x 10 inches

 

4.  I'll post your page(s) on the DallasArtsRevue site, so you can review it.

At first, I put your page online without linking it anywhere — so no one else will see it, until we agree it's ready.

Google and other search engine spiders or bots will probably hit your page, even if it is not linked anywhere, because I employ them to do our site Searching. So your hit counter may add numbers, even though no other humans will see that page. Yet.

I'll send you the URL (Universal Resource Locator — web address), so you can proofread your page(s).
 
 

5.  You proof your page(s).  

You'll probably want to change something or correct my or your spelling or correct errors.

If your spelling or grammar is incorrect, and if I catch it, I'll change it.

You are responsible for the text on your page.

Try to not change the titles every time you email me.

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James Michael Starr - All Along The Way, 2006
17-1/2 x 11-1/2 x 9-1/2 inches
Cast iron lamp base, cast figurine, croquet ball, miscellaneous hardware

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6.  I'll make the corrections

Unless I don't think there's anything that can possibly go wrong with your page, then I'll just post your page. It's still up to you to proofread your page and tell me about any corrections(s).

 

7.  You check the corrections, and if everything's okay, you approve them.

If I don't hear from you in a timely manner, I'll decide when your page is ready and publish the link on the Members Index page. Dragging this process out is not good for you or for me.

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8.  I'll link + promote your finished page(s).

The main way I promote your page is to link it to your name as often as I can.

To make that possible, notify DARts every time you are in a show or other art event.

The information I need.

Each time I list your name in a calendar or news listing, I'll link it to your DARts Member page. I may also use one of your images somewhere — like the cover or the members index — just so I can link your name to your member page.

Members report that they are much easier to find online than artists who aren't linked as often.

It probably helps that there's so many DARts pages, that they are all inter-linked, and that DallasArtsRevue is so informative.

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I used to recommend that artists change their pages every six months or so, but only a few ever did that, so it's hardly worth my while to complain any more. Many artists do their page one time and leave it their rotting in for years and years and years. That saves me time and effort, so it's just fine with me. I don't complain about it any more. But if your style changes often, your old style no longer represents you.
   

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Kathy Boortz   Peregrine    2010   10 x 15.5 x 4 inches
found wood, clay, beads, metal   J R Compton photo

 

I will photograph your work free!

We make an appointment via email.

You send me an email. We make an appointment. Probably in the afternoon.

If you are close — within Loop 12 north of the Trinity, or just south of the river, I'll drive to where your art is. If you live far, you bring it to me. If I have a compelling reason to travel far, I might, but I'd rather you bring art to me.

I now have a mini studio that's good for small and medium-sized sculpture and every painting artists have found room for in their vehicles, so far. Outside in bright sun is always better, it's amazing fast that way, but my semi-studio does good.

This free service is offered at my convenience. I reserve the right to choose to whom I offer it. It is a personal offer. It is not guaranteed in any way. I do it as a convenience to members, because it is often so much easier and quicker. I drive somewhere to do free photos less and less.
 

I photograph your work

It rarely takes more than a half hour.

The best place to photograph art (See How to Photograph Art.) is in direct sunlight, away from colorful objects like walls or trees. It's worth waiting for a sunny day.

I can deal with almost any kind of light that evenly covers your art, but only direct sunlight will show its true colors.

I prefer to shoot member art during the week. Saturday may be my second choice. Sundays are difficult. I like to rest or recreate then.

Art behind glass is a problem. Same with Plexiglas. Take your art out, or the glass off, before I have to shoot it.
 

I optimize your images, put them on a page, and send you the link so you can check it.

See #6 in the 11 Purple Steps above to learn what happens next in the membership process.

 

Put your strongest image on top, so people see it first, while they decide whether to look at the rest. If you can't figure out which is your strongest image, put the most recent one there.

I'd rather you decide which images — it's your page — but I can help.

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Editor's Guidelines

What to Say on Your Page

Jerry Dodd   Wounded Samurai   2008   welded, painted steel   11 x 13 x 7 inches

 

Few people read long, wordy Biographies or Artist's Statements (a vastly overrated literary form) — unless, of course, they are fascinated by you or your art.

People don't read long paragraphs, which is why I write and edit most text into shorter ones. You should, too. If you want, I'll help you write or edit your text. Just tell me.

Keep it simple — be human. A little text after each image is appreciated by readers, who are engaged by personal stories or vignettes about your art.

• What were you thinking when you made this?
• Why did you use that material, color, object, technique?
• What did you hope your viewers would understand?

Long, drawn-out statements or or intricate intellectualizations can be difficult or boring. Be real.The more you involve readers, the more they will appreciate you and your work. Talk to them.

Do not use the third person (he/she/his/her).

If you say, "I," "me" or "my," readers will be much more involved in your words.

An online resume can be valuable. Many members use their second page as their online resume. People read pictures first. If they like those, they'll read the captions.The last thing they read is long text. If they like the pictures and are intrigued by the captions, they may want to read everything they can about you and your work.

Maybe.

Solely on the basis of the art on their Member page, one DARts Member sold several thousands of dollars worth of art to a collector whom the artist had never met, and the buyer had never seen that artist's work before.

Artists don't often get to select the company their art keeps, but on DallasArtsRevue's Supporting Member pages, your work will be exhibited with some of the best artists in Dallas.

Pretty good deal.

 

DallasArtsRevue Member Page Standards

Pages must meet DallasArtsRevue Design & Specifications.

• Each page will have DallasArtsRevue links and identification at the tops and bottoms.
• The purpose of DARts Supporting Member pages is to present our member artists' work.
• We're happy to provide links to your other web site(s) and email addresses, but only after the art.

Check out the Supporting Member pages now online for examples of what you can do on your page, or read The Editor's Suggestions below.
 

DARts maintains certain aesthetic standards:

• No buttons.
• No sliced images.
• No text as image(s).
• No frames.
• No fixed page sizes.

DallasArtsRevue reserves the right to decline membership to anyone for any reason, but you really have to piss me off for that to happen. 

 

Then What?

Then, whenever you exhibit your work, do a demonstration, judge or curate something, participate in a show, art fair, sale or whatever, let us know two weeks before the event. Send the important calendar information — show title, artists' names (all of them), opening and closing dates, reception times.

Send us an image (JPEG) of your best work in that show, and we might illustrate your calendar listing with the picture.

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Since May 18 2009

since August 9 2005