Register for the Media Arts Directory
posted: January 4, 2005
Western North Carolina’s new online Media Arts Directory is now available at http://www.themap.org/directory/. Register for this free service, and encourage your colleagues to do so. In addition to media artists and professionals, businesses that use multimedia services, production crew members, equipment suppliers, venues that show media art, traditional artists seeking to incorporate media art into their work, and others who are interested are welcome to register.
The directory was programmed and designed by Top Floor Studio and funded by the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce. Tiyo Hallock, president of Top Floor Studio, says of the importance of professional organizations like The MAP, “I submitted a media piece to [an online exhibit,] my first interaction with the MAP. Shortly after, it landed me a job as a instructor…After getting at least three major clients directly from my connections through The MAP's network, I got another amazing lead--office space in the heart of the media art center in Pack Square for the most affordable prices I had found…Once you get involved with the MAP, there’s a whole new work world waiting.” Hallock donated many hours of his time to the project because he believes that, with the directory, “The MAP, an effective group now, will only become more influential.”
Sharon Willen, Director of Business and Industry services at the Chamber, views the directory as “a virtual economic development infrastructure.” She sees similarities between it and the Craft Registry created by Handmade in America, the nonprofit organization that has come to be recognized as a model for creative economic solutions. Like the registry, the online Media Arts Directory has the potential to bring business from customers outside the region to WNC artisans.
As much as the directory fosters an industry network, it should also contribute to the arts and the community in general. Curt Cloninger, a media artist, author, and Multimedia Arts and Sciences instructor at UNCA, commented about The MAP’s event series, “[At Off the MAP], I've met with several artists, musicians, and educators with whom I may never have come in contact otherwise. We've been able to use our shared reference of the event as a starting point for creative dialogue and collaboration. All of this has been extremely beneficial to me as an artist and educator, and none of it would have been possible without The MAP.” It is this sort of connection that the directory is meant to increasingly cultivate. Cloninger, who lives in a rural area of Canton, NC, plans to use the directory to locate other like-minded artists.
Expect to see other improvements to this website in 2005, including a new newsletter and forums. If you’d like to volunteer to work on the redesign, contact info@themap.org.
Western North Carolina’s new online Media Arts Directory is now available at 
