art:SAGE: berlin art link

I haven't had the chance to do an interview in quite a while, so I am really excited that my first one is with the founders of an organization that I love. I recently had the opportunity to talk to the ladies from Berlin Art Link. From time to time I have the opportunity to contribute articles to and make editing suggestions on their website. This interview comes just in time for the "Official Launch of the Berlin Art Link Travel Program" during Berlin Art Week in conjunction with their 1 year anniversary. Please enjoy our conversation and take the time to explore their animated and informative website: http://www.berlinartlink.com

Explain Berlin Art Link in 1 sentence

We are an online magazine, as well as an art marketing, travel and events company focused on highlighting the Berlin art scene and connecting international individuals and groups to the network of art professionals and resources available in the city.

Why Berlin?

Berlin has become one of the most important European cities for contemporary art and has a highly influential presence internationally. It’s acreative city with unique social and economic factors that allow for the emergence of young and experimental artists. Although the city has developeddrastically in the last 10-15 years, it’s emerging urban landscape is endlessly interesting. We are committed to fostering this exciting culturalmoment.

How do you work?

We actively engage in the art scene by attending openings, exhibitions, events, and through visiting artists’ studios. We also have partnered with many international media partners and contacts to connect our content to an international audience and vice-versa. This keeps us knowledgeable about the latest trends, attitudes and opinions of the local art professionals, buyers and enthusiasts from a ground level perspective. We post our daily blogs, weekly selected exhibition listings, “Based in Berlin: Artist Studio Visits” series, articles and interviews in order to present and encourage interaction and exchange with the city's current creative activities that we find interesting and relevant to our audience. The magazine, as well as coordinating our own art exhibitions and events, keeps us engaged with the Berlin art scene, creating a strong network and specialized knowledge for us to then offer informed and valuable consulting services in both Art Travel and in Marketing in regards to the Berlin and international art world.

What are your backgrounds?

Monica Salazar: I’m originally from Texas. Before moving to Berlin, I was a corporate event planner, producing conferences, meetings and events internationally for corporate clients. However, I also assisted in coordinating and executing events for the Dallas Art Dealer's Association and Nasher Sculpture Museum outside of my normal work week. This stimulated my strong interest in wanting to shift my career to an art environment, and ultimately towards wanting to move to Berlin and work in the contemporary art industry. My sister has lived in Berlin for 16 years, so I was familiar with the city and thought, if I’m going to make a change now, I might as well move to one of the art capitals of the world and immerse myself quickly in order to find my niche. The Berlin Art Link Travel Program is a niche combination of my past experience in travel and event planning and Berlin Art Link's established network of art and tourism contacts in Berlin.

Anna Russ: I’m from Bielefeld, Germany. I studied history, sociology and literature in Paris and at the Freie Universität Berlin. After my studies, I started working for the state museum, Kunstbibliothek Berlin, and opened Kim Bar with 3 friends. Later, I became assistant curator at Hunchentoot Galerie (Mitte). Monica and I quickly became friends in 2009 when she, by chance, stopped in Hunchentoot during a visit right before she moved here. When I returned back from Italy on vacation last year, she presented the idea about Berlin Art Link to me and asked if I would be interested in partnering with her. Immediately, I said yes, because I saw a great opportunity to work with Monica on this multifaceted project and to help develop it on the basis of my past work experience.

Clare Ros: I’m originally from Indiana and moved to Berlin in August 2010, shortly thereafter meeting Monica and Anna through a mutual friend. I came here on a Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst (DAAD) Graduate Fellowship to study at the Institute for Art in Context at Universität der Künste Berlin. After meeting the girls and learning about BAL, I immediately thought it would be a great opportunity to become involved and acquainted with the city’s creative community. I also saw this collaboration as a possible resource through which I could connect my independent research and projects to a wider audience, while helping others do the same. So far I think the collaboration has worked out quite well between us, because we all have similar interests, but come from diverse backgrounds with different approaches, so we learn from one another.

Teaming with BAL was also a natural move for me because it allows my interests to coalesce. I’ve always been interested in art, and was exposed to the gallery side when I was young because my father was an artist who later ran an art gallery. My formal design education started at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago where I received a BFA, followed by an M.Arch from Ball State University. My professional experience includes architectural design, visual merchandising, marketing, public relations, and curatorial work. In the context of Berlin Art Link I contribute to web, graphic design, articles, and conceptual development of exhibitions and products.

Why do you do what you do?

We realized there is a major disconnect exists between Berlin-based creative professionals and accessibility to outside markets and vice-versa. A surplus of artists reside here that proportionally outnumber the collectors, art buyers, publications, etc. And while there are, of course, great numbers of people coming into the city for the purpose of art, navigating the scene can at times prove overwhelming and easily misguided. In general, there are noticeable gaps in information about the Berlin art community available online, as presented to outside markets in ways that facilitate connecting people, ideas and projects. Our focus is to provide a vivid picture of what is actively happening locally and extend accessibility to this network on an international level. We believe the cultivation of this creative environment is invaluably something worth promoting.

What information is Berlin Art Link interested in sharing?

Our aim is to share our enthusiasm for contemporary artwork and practices that prove compelling, inspirational, and provocative. However, we do this differently than most publications. We present our content in an accessible way, extending the feeling of a personal introduction between our audience and the artists, curators, gallerists and other art professionals that we present through our website. We pull the same concept through to our events and business services. Thankfully, Berlin is a city where we have endless art-related events and exhibitions to discuss, as well as a constant influx of emerging and established artists to reference that reflect the creative and thriving international culture of the city. In regards to art tourism, we have a Travel Program that is catered towards collectors, curators, gallerists and museum patron groups. It includes luxury hotel accommodations, Suggestion Lists to galleries, museums, nightlife and restaurants, as well as Customized Itineraries according to the guests' goals and objectives of their visit. The itineraries can include, among other things, artist studio visits, customized art and architecture tours, private collection tours, private dinners or cocktail hours at unique art venues (networking or leisure), exclusive access to special events, and chauffeured airport and city transfers.

The program serves as a much-needed filter for the large array of exhibitors, social events, and local exhibitions, resulting in a more focused and rewarding experience. With personalized itineraries, tailored in consultation with guests, invitations to openings and access to private collections, guests are provided an exclusive and more enjoyable visit.

For Berlin Art Link Travel Program pricing and availability, email Berlin Art link at travel@berlinartlink.com or visit the Travel Program Website: http://www.berlinartlink.com/about/2011-travel-program-berlin-art-week/

It's been a couple of weeks since my last post, but in the meantime I have made the move across the ocean back to Texas. After a short reunion (and break) for the Thanksgiving holiday, it was off to Miami for the most important collection of art fairs in North America.

There were many things going on and I took in a lot of art. So, in this post, I will just very quickly try to recap the central fair Art Basel Miami, the sister counterpart to Art Basel.

The main event was at the convention center in South Beach. Much like those I have described for Basel, Berlin, and Turin, the fair is a winding labyrinth of white wall gallery sets. There were many images caught my attention. Too many to show in a few blogs. I also noticed, perhaps because of my personal interest in the area, that the Latin American community is showing up more and more at these fairs. Enjoy!

If you would like to know more about the events in Miami, check out my collaborative article on Berlin Art Link. Where I recently became the editor, so keep checking out the site to keep up with the emerging Berlin art scene.