A wealth of information not available anywhere else.
The name Fine Art Registry™ can be a bit misleading. Yes, it is the only official website which provides a unique, high tech, patented tagging and registration system and permanent recording for fine art and collectibles, and it has everything you would expect for that purpose.
But what else the Fine Art Registry website is, is not implied in the name. In fact the Fine Art Registry is also a broad, easily accessible online magazine for artists and collectors, the likes of which will not be found on the World Wide Web. There is already a wealth of information contained in the dozens of articles that have been written which is not available anywhere else.
There is a great mix of material from a broad range of contributors, all fuelled by the same broad purpose stated in the FAR mantra: “helping bring order to the world of art.”
Breadth of Material
Since April of this year, 45 new articles by a total of 10 different authors have been added to the website. Also since April of this year, 7 new authors have become regular contributors to the FAR® website. And the numbers are accelerating (articles and authors!). This is serious expansion. The subject matter is very broad. From the opinions and insight of an artist and critic to the legal advice of an attorney, expert in art and the law, to lively profiles of the wonderful artists who register their work with FAR, to a unique, subjective look of the last 40 years of art through the eyes of a well known San Francisco sculptor and author, to the reporting by an investigative journalist on some of the factors that make the Fine Art Registry such a vitally important player in today’s art world, and even to regular coverage of the art scene in Asia.
Contributors
Teri Franks
FAR’s founder and CEO has spent thousands of hours researching her subject. This, plus the fact that she is also an avid and astute collector and knows the art world inside out, coupled with her skills as a writer, makes her an invaluable contributor. It’s just a shame she doesn’t have time to do a full “knowledge dump” onto the website all in the click of a switch. However, over time she will manage to write more and more of what she knows so that you can share it.
David Phillips
A versatile writer and photographer (also a registered FAR artist), David brings his 20+ years of freelance experience to the website with a range of articles from artist profiles that get down to what makes each artist featured unique, to late breaking news about art projects or well researched articles on what’s really going on in the world of art.
Joan Altabe
Renowned art critic, and artist in her own right, Joan Altabe writes a column, “Open Letter to Artists,” in which she provides great information and a sometimes challenging and controversial viewpoint which keeps her readers on their toes and generates some interesting dialog. Many readers who are familiar with Joan’s sometimes surprising but always incisive and insightful commentary on the world of art, can’t wait for next piece to be published. You may not agree with everything she says, but it will sure get you thinking.
Cindy Hill
Cindy Hill combines her legal knowledge, her understanding of the art world and her engaging prose style to cover really practical issues such as copyright and other legal matters in an easily digestible, lively and interesting way. Cindy is an expert in her field and FAR is fortunate that she is sharing her expertise in a column stuffed with practical and useful information. Cindy has helped many FAR registered artists with legal issues that she manages to simplify for use by readers who are not necessarily lawyers.
David Charles
David Charles is a bit of an enigma but his articles sure are interesting. He has written some highly revelatory profiles of FAR registered artists and covered some very interesting news items. We are still trying to figure out who he really is. This is the contributor we know the least about except that he has sent in some really good material along with the odd photo (really odd photos!).
Cork Marcheschi
Cork is unique and one of the most valuable contributors FAR has found. His material comes from over 40 years of work as a professional artist who has made a living as an artist for decades and has also taught art in some of the best art institutions. Himself a well known sculptor with many large, public art installations around America and the world, Cork has traveled internationally and come in contact with many individuals involved in all aspects of art. He has also lived on planet Earth and kept his eyes, ears and other senses open to what’s going on. His writing style is inimitable and everything he writes is a pleasure to read and often very funny to boot. We are very proud to have him writing for us.
Anayat Durrani
A professional investigative journalist who has been published in many magazines and newspapers internationally, Anayat has a flair and reputation for digging in and getting to the bottom of whatever she is writing about. She has already contributed a number of articles on art crime, theft, fraud, etc., she has investigated and compared the various registries offering their services online and has begun a series on insurance of art and collectibles. These articles are not the usual superficial regurgitation of what is already available, but the real facts, the truth behind the façade (and believe me, there are façades covering up façades in the art world), so you can be spared the propaganda and get the facts.
Sarah Mitchell
Sarah has been contributing artist profiles to the FAR website and the artists she has written about are very fortunate to have someone who cares so much and is so passionate and compassionate in her writing. She brings out the best in the artists she writes about and presents them to the world in the way that they would like to be presented. She is also a talented photographer and, whenever she can, illustrates her articles with her own photos.
Dan Koon
FAR welcomes Dan as our most recent contributor, a brilliant artist (FAR registered) himself, with an extensive knowledge of art history and a deep appreciation of contemporary art. He is also a professional writer and consummate wordsmith who insists that every sentence he writes is properly constructed, clear and perfect. The profiles Dan has contributed have dug out and presented the factors that make that particular artist unique. This is very useful for collectors as they will understand the person behind the art they are buying.
Lihua Zhao
There is a lot going on in Asia in the world of art. It’s not necessarily easy to stay informed. That’s why we looked for a writer in Asia who could keep an eye on the Asian art world and write regularly for us. This writer is Lihua Zhao, based near Shanghai, China, and fluent in Chinese and English. She has already opened her readers’ eyes with articles about embroidered silk and ivory carving and there are more on the way, including a full survey of the exploding contemporary art scene in China and also the native Vietnamese lacquer painting genre.
How the Information is Organized
What was until not all that long ago a page on the FAR website which had links to a handful of articles, the material added has become a veritable treasure trove of varied, interesting and useful material. This has created a bit of a problem: how does the visitor or FAR member know what is there, and how do you find what you are looking for?
Fortunately FAR has a very talented web designer, Tonya Mortensen, who, together with Teri Franks, works out the best solutions to problems such as this, and has been responsible for the radical changes you may have noticed taking place on the FAR website over the last few months.
This is what Tonya has to say about the plethora of articles she is having to accommodate: “The solution to this is our latest installment of FAR Website Improvements: New Article Categories and Search function. Our articles will be catalogued by theme, such as Copyright, Opinion, FAR Contemporary Artists, etc., and a search box will be added as well. This will help site users find information they want quickly and easily.
A new feature for our writers will include an online area where they can read and respond to reader comments. This will help streamline the process as well as encouraging interaction between FAR writers and site visitors.”
If you are a reader and have something to say in response to an article you read, please take the time to post your comments. This will make the material more valuable for others.
Articles and the newsletter
You have probably realized by now that FAR also has a monthly newsletter and very often also publishes a Special Bulletin which are news bulletins issued between newsletters.
New articles, new contributors, columns and so on are usually announced in the newsletter, but you have to click on the link to go to the article and read it. Then don’t forget to come back and read the rest of the newsletter. It’s easy to get distracted when you get into the articles section of the FAR website because there is so much to read.
HTML and PDF Versions of All of Them
The articles are posted on the website in HTML format which is what you see when you click on any of the article links. The web page opens and you have the article and can read it on line. However, there is also usually an accompanying PDF (Portable Document Format–a document format which is easy to read on all computers, using Adobe Acrobat Reader which can be downloaded for free from the Adobe website) of the article which can be downloaded and printed out if you like.
The PDF is usually more attractively designed than the HTML page since PDFs do not have the limitations that are still inherent in HTML formatted material on the web. They look more like magazine articles.
You should feel free to email the FAR copyrighted PDFs to friends, to download and print them, even make up a binder of all the articles if you want the material in hard copy.
Many of these PDFs are quite beautiful, containing more photos and a different layout from the web page. A lot of work goes into the design of these PDFs and you should check them out.
How to Search for and Find the Articles
Right now, at time of writing, these are the ways to access the articles.
One way is every time you get a FAR newsletter or Special Bulletin in your email inbox, read it and follow the links to the full articles.
You can and should check out the home page of the FAR website regularly. Here you will find a brief introduction and links to the latest articles posted on the website. This changes often so check in regularly.
If you go to www.fineartregistry.com (home page), you will see “Articles” in the navigation bar at the top of the page. If you position your cursor over this button, you will get a submenu which includes Articles, FAR Columnists, Art & History, Write for FAR, Art Links. The first three buttons will take you to the articles section of the website and you can browse from there. Just read them all.
Future
As mentioned above, there are so many articles on the website now, and a lot more in the pipeline, that it has become necessary to give this section of FAR a bit more structure and careful organization.
You will soon see the articles divided up into categories. You will also see a search box on the main articles page so that you can search for articles. The whole idea is to make this material accessible.
There is a longer range plan to publish the FAR Registry of Contemporary Artists which will include all the artist profiles.
At some future date you may even see a FAR print magazine appear.
Make the Most of It
At the moment FAR makes all this material free to all members and actually anybody who cares to visit the website. This may not always be the case. This material is quite valuable and we have been discussing the possibility of making it available to members who pay a minimum subscription level. The annual membership for FAR are so low that full access to the site and all the material will remain extremely affordable and much, much cheaper than any comparable service.
Summary
Well, there you have it. If you weren’t aware of the depth and scope of useful and valuable material available on the FAR website, you should definitely have a look for yourself and see what’s there.
Just go to the home page and follow the links to the Articles Section and start reading.
You will be amazed.
The views and opinions of individual authors/contributors expressed on the FAR web site do not necessarily state or reflect those views and/or opinions of Fine Art Registry or its agents or subsidiaries.
© 2006 Global Fine Art Registry, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without express permission.
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