Colorful murals decorate the exterior walls of the Barnsdall Art Center building.

If you’ve read The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, you may have tried the collaging exercises, piecing together random images into a cohesive map of what you want your life to look like. I loved it – as an exercise and as an art – so in recent months I’ve been looking around for a collaging class to take it to the next level.  But after Google turned up nothing in my area, I let it go, consciously turning it over to the universe. It was just a few weeks later when a seemingly random invite from a friend led me to the Barnsdall Art Park where I discovered the Barnsdall Art Center and where, low-and-behold, a new collaging class was starting up soon.

It’s been years since I sat in a classroom; I forgot how comfortably humbling it is – surrendering my time and attention to someone whose direction I accept without judgment.

I cannot speak highly enough of our instructor, Naomi Buckley. I could sit in her presence for hours, watching her play with different collaging techniques. She may have demonstrated them a thousand times, but she still seems struck by the process, as though it’s a new discovery for her too. That’s art, I guess – we can all use the same techniques over and over again, but the expression is different every time.

ABOUT BARNSDALL ART PARK

Classes at the Barnsdall Art Park date back 65 years. The property is remarkable, set on top of a shady hill just off Hollywood Boulevard – 11 acres of space dedicated to trees, grass, open air and art buildings that blend beautifully into the landscape, including Hollyhock House, Frank Lloyd Wright’s first L.A. project and a National Historic Landmark.

In addition to art classes – for adults and children, beginners to advanced – the Park hosts wine tastings on Friday nights, movies outside on Saturday nights, and free art workshops on Sundays. The park also rents out the Barnsdall Gallery Theatre for individuals and organizations looking for an affordable space for live theater, dance and musical performances.

Numerous metal art sculptures sit under the trees on the lawn of Barnsdall Art Park.

SOCIAL MEDIA REVIEW

Barnsdall Art Park has a social media presence in three of the most important places for a non-profit arts organization like theirs to be:

Facebook. They post a steady stream of interesting, diverse updates and, as of this writing, have well over 6,000 fans!

Twitter. Here they have just over a thousand followers, again with a steady stream of updates. In fact, it is the same stream as shared on the Facebook page. While this is a practical, time-saving means of updating both feeds at once, maximizing Twitter means writing updates specific to that outlet, particularly regarding hashtags. For instance, the Park would benefit greatly from including tags like #art, #LA and other relevant keywords in its tweets. The message can be the same as what’s shared on Facebook, but with the hashtag additions. The Park would also benefit from personal engagement on Twitter, including retweets and replies to other relevant Twitter accounts. Twitter at its best is not a one-way billboard, but a conversation.

Yelp. As of this writing, close to 70 people have left reviews of the Park on Yelp, the vast majority of which are near perfect, and with good reason. As a number of reviewers note, it really is like an oasis in the city. When you’re up on top of that hill, it’s like being in a different world.

As for the website, the Barnsdall Art Park does a great job of incorporating opportunities for sharing its content. The “News” page seems to function as the blog, however, the RSS feed links to the Twitter feed. It’s an interesting choice that I personally like, but it may not be the best choice for readers. When we click on an RSS feed icon, we’re expecting to find a link to a traditional blog, not a Twitter feed. Since many people do not use Twitter, the Park could be missing out on an opportunity to convert blog subscribers.

For your own take on the Park, “like” them on Facebook, follow them on Twitter and, if you’ve been there before, leave a review on Yelp.

Most importantly though, if you live in L.A., check out the Barnsdall Art Center. It’s refreshingly affordable. (I paid something like seventy bucks for a six-week course!) The instruction is top-notch. And the setting is an inspiring backdrop for exploring your creative side.

UPDATE

A new 12-week series of classes starts in September. There’s no online registration though and the classes fill up fast. To register, show up at the Barnsdall Art Park on Saturday, September 10. Everything is a first-come-first-serve basis so try to get there early. Number distribution starts at 8:30 a.m. but that’s when I showed up last time and it was quite a wait. I’ll be shooting for 7:30 or 8 this go round. Click here to see the 12-Week 2011 Session Schedule September 16-December 17.

With gratitude,

Meredith Simonds, Social Media Reviewer, Blogger and Consultant

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The social media suggestions in this post are general and brief. To see what a comprehensive review entails, check out my Social Media Services.