BAP: Celebrating Seven Years on Twitter

For seven years (2004-2010), I compiled and published the print version of the Guide to Black Art Exhibitions (ISSN 1559-5129) through the Black Art Project (BAP). A number of those archival print editions are accessible online via Scribd. In addition, select print editions of the Guide are a part of the reference or archival collections of such institutions as the Library of Congress, Smithsonian American Art/Portrait Gallery Library, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Library, the New York Public Library (Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture), Chicago Public Library, the David C. Driskell Center at the University of Maryland, Detroit Public Library, Newark Public Library, University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill), and others.

After the print version of the Guide ceased publication, I had to create another vehicle through which I could channel information relating to Black art exhibitions. To achieve that goal, I looked toward creating a blog page that would focus on a large, but select number of exhibitions during any given year. In addition to the blog page, I decided that each exhibition would be announced via Twitter at some time during its exhibition cycle. Twitter would become the marketing informational source. In the beginning of this social media venture, I committed myself to learning how Twitter might afford me an opportunity to connect with an inter-generational group of readers from a cross-section of the world. The goal was to greatly expand and grow the readership beyond those readers who had access to the print publication. With that as my focus, I was open to explore and made a personal commitment to try Twitter for a year to determine if it would meet BAP needs of sharing and connecting more readers to the world of Black visual artists. 

June 20th marked seven years, that I said hello to a new adventure (Twitter), not having the slightest idea of how to implement the goal that I had conceived and envisioned. Back in June of 2010, I was willing to face a bigger challenge that required me to stretch my skill set in a direction of becoming familiar with new platforms to share information electronically. Within a few months, I was comfortable with Twitter and am still learning the vocabulary and symbols of this micro-blogging tool as an informational source. From the beginning, it has been and will remain my intent to focus 90-95% of the tweets towards the visual arts, covering all aspects of the art world. 

The success of creating and promoting an online Guide to Black Art Exhibitions did not simply rest in my enhancing my technological skills as a blogger, but is based to an even larger extent on a large number of individuals, groups, and organizations that follow BAP on the Blog and particularly on Twitter. Their consistent willingness to like, mention, retweet, and share tweets to their circle of friends, family, acquaintances, and others have been greatly appreciated. I look at those followers as a part of an international family who mutually support Black visual artists, and understand their importance and the impact that they have made to enhance the quality of the visual experience. So, I personally thank all BAP followers for any support that you have provided over the past seven years. It has been greatly appreciated. #gratitude #SupportBlackArtists