The Carleton University Art Gallery (CUAG) is turning reblogging, tagging, hearting and following into an art.
The gallery’s Tumblr account was featured alongside those of the Art Gallery of Ontario and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art as one of the “Top 10 Museum Tumblrs” to ‘follow’ by Complex Magazine, Jan. 7.
Fiona Wright, the CUAG education and outreach assistant, said the gallery’s new Tumblr account comes along with an overall push to reach more people through different platforms.
“The social media aspect of [a] gallery [is] important for institutions to reach new audiences,” said Wright, who manages the CUAG’s Tumblr account.
Unlike the CUAG’s official website, platforms like Tumblr “work to bring the experience of museum to personal space, the online space,” she said.
Tumblr’s micro-blogging platform allows Wright to easily share and “whet people’s appetite” with images of works on display in the gallery, she said. The multimedia posting style is easily accessible to young people, and can serve as “a visual archive,” she said. Tumblr’s interactive nature encourages sharing, Wright said. The blog’s followers can “heart” images they like or reblog them to their own accounts.
While the CUAG Tumblr is designed to drive traffic to the gallery, it also creates its own content, Wright said.
The posts feature behind-the-scenes snapshots of the gallery, videos teasing local art events and even a holiday gift guide for specific programs.
Wright began developing a strategy for the Tumblr account after she was hired as the CUAG’s first education and outreach assistant this year, she said.
The position was specifically created this year through the Young Canada Works, and is specially mandated to run educational events and fill a gap in programming for students at the gallery, according to Wright.
The gallery has been reaching out to students in a number of ways beyond Tumblr as well. A few recent collaborations with student groups include the LGBTQ centre’s weekly screening of Canadian queer films.
Overall, the Tumblr page has been getting more ‘followers’ since the mention on Complex.com, Wright said. She said she has also learned from other art institutions on Tumblr, which has expanded the CUAG’s outreach, she said.
“For a gallery, it’s important to build a community around [social media] and thus make it a positive part of the community.”
