Handmade Tile Association August 2012 Newsletter

Handmade Tile Association Newsletter

August
2012

13th Year

Greetings!

August is the start of the busiest time for the Handmade Tile Association.. The Minnesota Tile Festival is just around the corner and the annual directory drive starts.
Lots of new and exciting ideas are being injected into the Minnesota Tile Festival from tiled cars to tile fashion shows and special invites are coming into focus. We hope readers of this newsletter will be inviting all there friends and family to attend the show. It will be an amazing event.

In This Issue

Project Runway at...Tile Festival?

Tiling a Car at Tile Festival?

North Prairie Tile makes tile mural for American Swedish Institute

Minnesota Tile Festival

Video concepts

PSurge in Interest of Handmade Tile Association Social Media

Article Headline

HTA Artist Selected for Gallery Show

Welcome New and Renewing Membership

Thank You Volunteers!

Spotlight on Artist Schedule

Minnesota Tile Festival

Events, Show, New Products, Art, Classes,

Project Runway at Tile Festival?

Yes, the mannequins are wearing tile

One of the MN Tile Festival committee brainstorms for the past few years was to have a fashion show at the Minnesota Tile Festival. This year we have an interested party, Minneapolis Community and Technical College(MCTC).

This idea is a project in flux and we are hoping many HTA members and other get inspired and want to help us create a partnership with MCTC and their fashion department.

We already hire a photographer every year for the event so this will be a chance for tile artists to get some great photos of tiles on fashion and create a new way for people to think of tiles. This is what the school is asking for.

School starts at the end of August and the tile festival would be their first project. The students will need a variety of choices maybe 10 to 15 different selections with variety of tile shapes, sizes and colors. Being that tiles are heavy we would recommend tile artists donating smaller tiles so the designers don't weigh down their models.

The Tile Festival committee will be getting more information and we hope sending out more information as we get it and for the HTA meeting on August 29th at the American Swedish Institute.

Tiling a Car at Tile Festival?

Another exiting project the tile festival committee has been dreaming about is creating a mosaic car at the MN Tile Festival. This might be the year! Leigh Oltmans of Trebuchet Communication has a family member who is the head of the Art Car scene here in Minnesota . We are in conversations to make this happen.

Minnesota Tile Festival wants to create a Art Car at the tile festival. We want our tile festival patrons to mosaic a car or truck at the Minnesota Tile Festival September 15th at the American Swedish Institute. We will donate the tile, adhesive and tile people to help mosaic the car.
What we are looking for a is a car or truck someone wants to have tiled. If you are interested contact Josh at josh@handmadetileassociation.org

North Prairie Tile makes tile mural for American Swedish Institute new restaurant

The Handmade Tile Association congratulates the American Swedish Institute on the Grand Opening of the Nelson Cultural Center on June 30 and welcomes this opportunity to congratulate HTA member, North Prairie Tileworks on their stunning tile installation for the center. When you attend the Minnesota Tile Festival check it out. Click here to read the full story.

The project will also be featured in Tile Magazine upcoming issue.

Six weeks tile the 2012 Minnesota Tile Festival

The 2012 Minnesota Tile Festival is just around the corner! Saturday, September 15 will be here soon. Just a few notes and reminders about the event:

* The 2012 Minnesota tile Festival will be one of the first events to take place at the newly built contemporary addition to the American Swedish Institute/ASI. The grand opening of this space created quite a buzz in the Twin Cities in late June with great coverage in a number of media and publications. If you haven't seen the space, check it out in person or online at asimn.org.

*All tile artist booths will be in the new beautiful outdoor areas of ASI this year. No longer will festival visitors be seen trying to find their way to the lower level exhibition space through the maze of hallways.

* There is a new gallery exhibition space in the ASI addition. Currently showing there...and will be on exhibition during the Tile Festival...is a fabulous show of gorgeous handwoven tapestries created in a photo-realism style by Swedish artist Helena

Hermarck.

*There is also a wonderful new café restaurant in the ASI addition. It is named FIKA, a word that means "daily break, traditionally involving coffee and baked treats" in Swedish. The café's food is delicious with seasonal menu items dedicated to local regional ingredients and Swedish tradition including open-faced sandwiches, salads and interpretations of "New Nordic Cuisine." The new chef is Michael Fitzgerald who has worked at Tilia, Sea Change, Solera and Auriga.

*There will be a Friday evening set-up time for the festival this year. Details will be coming later in August.

*Parking is plentiful and free in the ASI large parking lot and on the surrounding streets.

New Building and Free Parking!

*There is still plenty of space for additional tile artist exhibitors. The deadline is August 15. Click here for an application or contact Josh Blanc or Norma Hanlon if you want to be an exhibitor. New this year we are offering a Free 5'x 10' foot spaces to any artist that wants to show a tile process. Example include mold making, glaze technique, stamping clay, mesh mounting, etc. What ever you can do to showcase that we make the tiles right here in the United States in your own studio. We believe this will be a great talking point and sales tool to showcase your work. Only a few days left to get your space at The MN Tile Festival registration ends August 15th

*An information letter will be sent out to all exhibitors in mid-August with further information.

*An informational meeting will be held at the American Swedish Institute on Wednesday. August 29th at 6:30 p.m. Exhibitors will able to see the space and ask questions.

*Volunteers are needed to help out the day of the festival. If you are able to volunteer for a few hours or all day on September 15 or the evening before, please contact Josh Blanc at HTA or Norma Hanlon, coordinator, at normahanlonart@gmail.com If you know of anyone or any groups of people who might like to volunteer, please also contact us.

Marketing Info by Trebuchet Communications

MN Tile Festival.wmv

Video is one of the most powerful and efficient tools of visual communication. It is
able to deliver a direct and clear message to a broad audience as well as focus viewers
on a selected area or process of your work. A visually appealing video is an excellent
way to present a product, service or brand and take user experience to a much more interactive level. For this reason, creative and professional videos are becoming increasingly popular in web design today.

Hiring a professional is always best. Many videographers will shoot and edit your piece for a reasonable price. It is best to get 2 or 3 bids before starting the project. Knowing what you want and having an outline will help keep costs down and make
this an enjoyable project. If you don't know where to start, ask other professionals who have used video services or reach out to trusted individuals that could connect you to the right team.

For more information, please email at lisa@trebuchetcommuications.com.

By Lisa Trnka of Trebuchet Communication.

Surge in Interest of Handmade Tile Association Social Media

In the past year the Handmade Tile Association has more than doubled in many areas. On Facebook we went from 200 likes last year now we have over 560! Every post is getting more and more people seeing member artists work, class offerings and news of tile opportunities. Our goal is go get to 1000 by early next year.

The newsletter and Spotlight on Artists goes out to over 900 people who have requested to be on the list. This is also up double from last year. We then post the newsletter on Facebook and Linked In where thousands more people are exposed to what the Handmade

Tile Association is up to. Typically we have a 30% to 35% open rate which we have been told is a great open rate for newsletters. Many companies only get 10% to 20% opens. What that means in practical terms is 300 plus people read the newsletter and spotlight on artists every month.

2013 Directory Drives Starts Now...Go!

Advertise your tile products, serices and art in the Handmade Tile Association directory and website. New you can pay online by credit card this year! Click here for more details.

HTA Artist Selected for Gallery Show

Leann Johnson was selected to show her work at the Healing Arts Exhibition at Hudson Hospital & Clinic in Hudson, WI. The show runs from July 18 through October 14, 2012.

http://www.lea-way.com/

Handmade Tile Association Meeting

August 29th
Handmade Tile Association Meeting

6 - 8:30pm
Where- American Swedish Institute
2600 Park Ave Minneapolis, MN 55407

Agenda

Tour the Minnesota Tile Festival space before the show

Pot Luck!

If you are not in the Minnesota region consider creating a meeting of tile and mosaic artists in your area. The HTA can promote your meeting through this newsletter and on the website, Facebook, and Linked in. It is a great way to learn and promote tile ideas.

Sincerely,

Josh Blanc
Handmade Tile Association.LLC

Quick Links check out all the new info

Welcome New and Renewing Membership

Business Members

Mary Gordon

We need Volunteers!

We are looking for volunteers for the MN Tile Festival and the Arts & Crafts show both in September. Contact the HTA if you can help.

Get your 5 hours in and save money on your advertising.

5 Hours button

Spotlight on Artist Schedule

Spotlight on artists for 2012.
If you are next Please send us any new images, information or news that you would like to be highlighted by the first of your month to the the HTA.

August
North Prarie Tile

Weaver tile

Mercury Mosaics

SatoriTile

Edina Art Center

September

Barbara Schmidt

Stone Hollow Tile

Lea-Way Designs, LLC

David Aichinger Tile Co.

American Restoration Tile

October

Tile Restoration Center

Red Step Studio

Dean Tile

Status Ceramics

November

Alma Artisan

Pewabic Pottery

La Alameda Press

Thomas Kent Collection

Institute of Mosaic Art

Decemeber

Desert Rise Stone Distr.

Clay Earth Studios

Ceramic Chinn

Hohn and Hohn Inc

The
Sponsors of the Handmade Tile Association

Advertiser

Minnesota Tile Festival

Events, Show, New Products, Art, Classes, etc!

Four times a week the HTA does a Facebook post on the Handmade Tile Association page. We are looking for , members and advertisers who have events or anything they want to publicize, click here to send your info

We are looking for more events to post. Please send us your classes and workshops, and gallery shows.

The same thing goes for artists chosen for the HTA "Artist of the Month" spotlight. If they connect with me early, I can integrate more of their work and interests in the press release.