Strength in Numbers

A flock of birds seemed like the right image for this update.

From the beginning, we knew Behold would only become truly interesting when more people participated—not simply more artists uploading artwork, but artists, art lovers, curators, galleries, schools and other communities discovering, collecting and sharing art with one another.

We’re beginning to see that take shape.

Our first major push was building the artist community. Now we’re widening the circle and putting more attention on the people who experience the work, organize it, talk about it and introduce it to others.

And some important updates are coming soon.

User accounts for art lovers will make it possible for people who aren’t artists to participate more fully in Behold.

New collection tools will allow artists and art lovers to curate groups of work they discover—creating their own combinations, perspectives and stories.

And we’re developing more ways to share those collections, individual artworks and artists with people outside Behold.

Taken separately, those sound like features. Together, they begin to change the experience.

Instead of simply looking at art, people can start doing something with what they discover. Save it. Organize it. Curate it. Share it. Introduce someone else to an artist they might never have found on their own.

That is where the network begins.

Alexa has also been doing a lot of work exploring how Behold can grow through existing communities rather than simply recruiting people one at a time.

She’s been talking with artist groups and galleries about creating collections and preserving exhibitions within Behold. With Pittsford Fine Art, for example, we’ve been discussing how exhibitions might live on digitally after the physical show changes—giving visitors another way to return to artwork they remember seeing.

She has also been developing university relationships and pilot ideas. At FIT, the concept includes giving participating artists profiles, curated portfolios and shareable links.

And just this week she began exploring an interesting idea with UNC Greensboro: allowing students to experience Behold from different sides of the art world—as artists, curators, collectors, advisors and gallerists. That could help us learn what each group needs while exposing students to the larger ecosystem surrounding art.

There are similar conversations developing with galleries, schools and arts organizations.

Jaime has been extending the network in another direction. He was recently invited into the International Chamber of Arts, an international group connecting people across art, culture, institutions, entrepreneurship and investment—and has now been invited to join its board.

That is exciting in its own right, but more importantly, it represents the kind of connection we believe can help Behold grow: not simply finding another artist or another user, but connecting into communities that already exist.

The more we work on this, the more convinced I am that this is how Behold should expand.

Not one artist at a time.

Not one art lover at a time.

Communities bring communities.

An artist invites another artist.

A gallery brings its artists.

A professor introduces a class.

Someone discovers an artwork and adds it to a collection.

That collection gets shared with a friend.

The friend discovers an artist they’ve never heard of.

And maybe that artist introduces another community.

Each action increases the possibility of the next one.

Which brings me back to the birds.

A single bird can fly a long way. But when hundreds or thousands begin moving together, something different happens. The movement itself becomes visible. It attracts attention. It changes direction. It grows.

Nobody is really directing the flock.

Each bird is simply responding to the others.

That feels increasingly close to what we are trying to create with Behold.

We still have plenty to build, test and improve. But the pieces are beginning to connect.

So please keep exploring.

Share artists whose work stops you. Invite people who love art. Bring in your group, your school, your gallery or your community. And when the new collection tools arrive, use them to show us what you see.

The flock is beginning to form.

Strength in numbers.

Where art discovers you.