I haven't yet painted my self-portrait for the Art Gallery of Ontario's In Your Face project, but I still can, and you can too. The deadline for submission of your 4" x 6" portrait is June 1.
The In Your Face project opens July 1, and is intended to be:
"an exhibition of portraits collected from the general public to celebrate the individuality and diversity of Canada ... In Your Face will allow everyone to become a creative part of the Gallery's future"
This major gallery is taking a step out to engage their audience and de-mystify their subject: fine art.
Even better, here are a couple of other things they have done:
- started a blog on their web site, part of which is devoted to this project
- set up a flickr photo blog for the project, where i found the amazing portrait shown above
Only a few months ago I was wondering when galleries would start posting podcasts instead of renting head-phones. Well, AGO now has podcasts here. [only 2.5 days left to see the David Milne show...yikes!]
I am impressed by these efforts to engage with the public and get innovative. They have moved a long way beyond putting some crayons and paper in the corner of the gallery for the kids. What are you doing to engage with your customers? If a stodgy old art gallery can do this, just think what a nimble business organization could get going!
Previous posts on engaging with your customers:
Connecting your customers with blogs, community sites and forums
Brand Lecturing is Out - Co-Creation, Sharing, Architecture of Participation is In
Teaching Customers: Football Classes
Technorati Tags: customer engagement, co-creation, in your face portrait project
