ABOUT SALONS:

The phenomenon of the "salon" -- the purposeful gathering of people together to have conversation, dialog, and debate--has been bobbing up in news and media more and more in the past several years. Obviously, a hunger has developed in our fast-moving world for old fashioned conversation. Nowhere is this more evident than in the online version of the salon, the "bulletin board."

In The Painter's Place, and The New York Times Art and Architecture message board, both America Online message boards, members have moved from banal chatting to meatier discussions of things that concern artists, i.e., tools of the trade, philosophy of art, the triumphs and difficulties of the life of an artist, the vagaries of the market place, and other such issues. A true community has developed, with healthy debate, the sharing of ideas, kinship in the struggle, and applause in moments of triumph.

FROM DIALOG TO ACTION

This energized group of artists and artisans moved from conversation to action: design of a unique Web page featuring a fascinating array of self portraits which link by a click on an image to brief biographical statements and to the artist's own Web site for a more comprehensive representation of the artist. Alternately, a speedy front page listing enables viewers to bypass the rogue's gallery and go directly to a Web site by clicking on the artist's name.

The ARTFaces | ARTPlaces Web site is, in a very particular way, an expression of the group itself: people coming out into the public eye in the strength of numbers; being counted. We have among us established, widely collected and celebrated artists who have work in prestigious arenas. We also have emerging artists making their first mark in the visual arts scene. It is a grass roots museum, a gallery of the greater Art World!

It is a coup for artists everywhere that these people arrive on the Web in a cohesive group! Artists are typically "loners" working in seclusion, and often disconnected from each other. Our strength is that we believe in our work, wish each other well, and recognize a kinship in the pursuits and struggles of making art. The diversity of art in these pages is what makes AFAP strong. The vision of AFAP will be realized if the viewing public gets a picture of the greatness, diversity and power of the artist community worldwide.

THE ROGUES IN THE GALLERY

The idea of seeing a "rogue's gallery" of artists as rendered by the artists themselves seemed an entertaining way of indexing an ever widening network of artists. The way the pages were put together behind the scenes is a story in and of itself. People working night hours, odd instant messages crossing cyberspace, from Huntington Beach CA, to Seattle WA, to Wilmington NC , to New York NY, to West Alexandria OH, to Carlsbad CA , and to Deland FL, where one of our key board members had to evacuate in the middle of things because of wildfires on the Florida coast. The anecdotes are pretty special, from succor to one who had run over a dog and was suffering inner anguish, to the brilliant creativity of a droll logo animation. The constant communications produced much online laughter, required more than a little byte count in the mail files, and emergency rescue efforts extended to certain of us drowning in the foreign language of HTML. Where we needed expertise, we got the cream of the crop! In administration, web page development, editing savvy, and design excellence, an amazingly talented and professional staff was drawn from the World Wide Web to give of their time and expertise to this project. How can we help but make an excellent mark on the Web?

INTENT OF AFAP INDEX

It is expected that the page will change as time goes on, and as "bugs" appear (as I expect they will), but the skeleton engine intends only to efficiently support the artists, and not be the "main event" in and of itself; thus, we have created simple pages supporting clickable links to art-rich pages. The resolution of portraits and "thumbnails" will be medium to aid speed, without byte hungry bells and whistles so that the index will move quickly to the richness within the artists' own sites.

We are a true grass roots organization, with a heart to do things well, with a great deal of respect for one another and a high regard for what we know in our bones will be a growing group of Internet viewers who find our pages engaging.

PARAMETERS

We are not interested in pornography or work that is designed to offend the sensibilities of decent people. The shape of the network will decide itself, within these parameters. We will include craft arts, and installation arts, as well as two dimensional works. We will gladly accept to our pages the caliber of art which you might find in an upscale gallery or museum offering.

MEMBERSHIP

Our aim is to publish by July 30, 1998, and open the AFAP pages to applicants in the US and internationally. There will be a modest yearly fee charged for representation on AFAP pages. (Charter members are exempted from this fee, as a tribute to their dedicated work to put these pages into existence.) A rotating panel will decide whether the applicant's art is appropriate and in line with AFAP's standards for our pages. This panel of jurors will also select from the wealth of work found in our pages a monthly winner of the Juror's Award. The winner of this award will grace the front page of our AFAP site as our Featured Artist!

Important: This is the coveted jury of peers that artists have been wishing for! Some of us in the art community have longed for the time when our work can be judged by a committee not subject to financial self interest. Here is the time and here is the place!! The jury members will look at the whole body of art on an artist's Web site in their decision making, and make nominations. Then there will be a voting process, and a decision will be made. No juror stands to win or lose anything from the selection.

AFAP's ARTVoices

AFAP's ARTVoices, our monthly publication, is a parallel feature of our pages giving news of events, artist's shows, bits of humor, editorials, announcements and scuttlebutt of all sorts. Submissions to the newspaper are welcome either as letters to the editor or as articles or items to be considered by the editor for publication. The newspaper's shape and form will evolve in the same way as the AFAP site does, depending on how the personality of the AFAP community develops. There is a great adventure ahead! Every day! The same guidelines of decency will hold for the newspaper as for the AFAP site itself.