On Saturday, June 4th, at the Visual Arts Nova Scotia (VANS) Annual General Meeting in Lake Charlotte, NS, the organization launched a fresh and modern design to their website – https://www.visualarts.ns.ca. Now, two weeks later, and on the first day of Summer, VANS proudly announces it publically.

VANS’ new website – created by Dean Gallant at Pinwheel Design – offers much more to the organization, its members and the public, by providing an accessible tool on VANS’ opportunities, activities and resources relevant to the practices, and advancement, of visual artists and the arts in Nova Scotia.

Recognizing the administrative, aesthetic and navigational challenges of our old website design, Dean Gallant cleverly took the organizations ideas and concerns and translated them into a visually interesting website that is practical, navigable, interactive, and user-friendly. The website ensures greater access to VANS announcements, events, programs, calls, deadlines and links to provincial galleries – all of which are featured on the main page. The e-studio directory has also been greatly improved in its professional aesthetic, design and navigation. The Programs and Resource pages provide information for the professional advancement of visual artists and offers links and publications relevant to visual artists’ professional practices, in a much more manageable and searchable database. With a new and improved web design, the organization can offer greater access to information about visual arts, artists and their practices in Nova Scotia.

The VANS website also features links to social media sites where VANS’ Fans’ also connect. Like social media, the website also encourages participation from members of the visual arts community and public. By allowing its audience to comment on posts, pages and individual e-studio directories, the website is constantly changing and evolving. The Fan Club does not stop there; the new website is a flexible launching pad for other developments and activities. Eventually, VANS members who are registered for the e-studio directory will be able to log-in to the website to update their individual e-studio following the stipulated submission guidelines determined by VANS. Please stay tuned for the launch of the online E-Studio Tutorial.  For now the procedures are the same but the Submission Guidelines and E-Studio Registration Form have changed slightly. Please visit the website, for more general information about the website and E-Studio artist directory.