We got an email yesterday from the folks at Calling Marcel. That’s a new website offering free listings about jobs, opportunities and competitions in the visual, performing and writing arts.
The list of opportunities is pretty long and rich considering the site’s only been up since Oct. When I strolled through the visual arts opportunities I saw a job at MoMA, a job at the Brooklyn Arts Council, a post-doc fellowship at the Frick, calls for a women’s video art show, “Her Shorts,” sponsored by Plugged Video Collective in Tuscon. Great nuggets! And that’s just the tip of the top. (image is detail of their front page. I love the pale colors and minimalist layout. Very easy to navigate.)
About the site’s name, Calling Marcel, here’s what the website says:
“I don’t believe in art. I believe in artists.” –Marcel Duchamp
“We could think of no better nor more influential cultural figure to lend a hand with our site than Marcel Duchamp. He spoke the words above and he embodies what we believe is at the heart of great art – in any art form – by breaking boundaries, ever questioning, and having fun with the medium, whether it’s stripping the bride or laying bare the bachelors.”
I was so excited I emailed the Marcels and asked them who they are. The site’s pretty anonymous except to say that this is the crew who brought you Art Krush the online magazine (which is now a bi-monthly e-newsletter).
Here’s the lovely reply they wrote back.
Roberta and crew,
Hello! A quick history and introduction. My name is Mark Barry. Chris Elam and I first founded ArtKrush about 5 (maybe 6?) years ago. We since sold it to the awesome Flavorpill knowing they would do great things and continue its high quality content. They have done a great job so far and we are very excited about it still growing.
Since then, Chris, myself and a new partner, Jason have focused our attention to this new project. There are thousands upon thousands of listings out there on the net, but no single place that has the ability to house them all together in a intelligent and intuitive format. Thus, we set out to create Calling Marcel. We are excited about these first listings but our goal is 300-500 listings a month. There is more than enough demand and resources out there to support that number. (At least we hope so!)
We don’t really mean to be too cryptic on the site, but you are right, it does come off kinda anonymous. So here is the short and sweet on the three amigos: Chris is a photographer and a writer. He lives and works in New York. Jason is a musician and an absolutely brilliant code geek and lives in Utah. I moved from NYC to Utah so that my wife could go to grad school for her MFA in Modern Dance. I do some photography and paint now and again, but primarily am focused on growing my small graphic design business.
Calling Marcel could use all the help we can get. It is a great idea and something we feel the art world (in all its mediums) could desperately use. The site depends on institutions to post listings and the artists to respond to them. We have no real money to invest in advertising, thus we are trying to get the ball rolling in the blog-o-sphere. Any and all help you can offer by spreading the word or through advice you might have would be really fantastic and greatly appreciated.
Thanks so much for emailing me back!
– Mark
Sooo, check it out and bookmark it. And institutions, if you have something to post, post it. It’s a global village and all eyes are everywhere. By the way, for other listings sites, check out Inliquid which has grants, jobs and opportunities listings; The Cultural Alliance’s Jobs Bank has jobs listings. Craig’s List, too. Bookmark ’em all and use them.
