Two-Week Artist Website Intensive: Get Ready for Sac Open Studios

Sac Open Studios is coming this September, and thousands of local art lovers, curators, and collectors will be looking you up. Is your online portfolio ready to turn those casual studio visitors into lifelong fans and buyers?

If the thought of setting up hosting, organizing your images, or wrestling with technology makes you want to hide in your studio, you aren’t alone. You don’t need months of tech stress to build a beautiful digital home—you just need a clear plan, dedicated time, and professional guidance.

Led by veteran web design professor and fellow Sacramento artist Heather Hogan, this fast-paced, highly supportive 2-week intensive is designed specifically for fine artists and makers who need to get a website live (or completely refreshed) before the summer ends. Over three interactive, 2-hour live sessions, we will clear away the technical confusion and build a clean, minimalist website that lets your artwork take center stage.

What We Will Build Together

By the time the studio doors open in September, you will have a fully functional, professional website featuring:

-A Dynamic Home Page: Instantly hook visitors with a curated selection of your best work and your unique artistic brand. -An Elegant Portfolio Gallery: Organize your art into clean series with professional sizing and proper layout. -An “About” Hub: Polish your artist bio, statement, and exhibition history so it truly connects with collectors. -A Frictionless Contact Page: Give local buyers an easy way to reach you, see your open studio schedule, and sign up for your newsletter. Who Is This For? Fine artists, craftspeople, and makers who want a beautiful, professional online hub but are lacking the time, technical skills, or direction to tackle it alone. Artists who know they can cross the finish line if they just have a bit of structured motivation and direct troubleshooting help. Prerequisites & Materials

To get the most out of our 6 hours together, you should be comfortable with basic computer tasks (typing, browsing the web) and have a laptop computer ready.

You will need to bring your drafted content to the first session:

10–20 high-quality (at least 1 MB) photos of your artwork A rough draft of your artist bio/statement Read this article about your artist statement An updated list of your shows or CV Websites will be built using user-friendly, flexible platforms- either Squarespace, Canvas, or WordPress. Squarespace $19/mo https://www.squarespace.com/pricing Canva is free to around $130/yr https://www.canva.com/website-builder/  WordPress is free to around $8/mo https://wordpress.com/pricing/#lpc-pricing 

The Promise: Stop putting it off. Invest 2 weeks, block out 6 hours, and walk into Sac Open Studios with a stunning, professional website that you actually know how to update yourself.

Space is strictly limited to ensure personal, direct feedback for every artist.

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This calendar listing is brought to you by Sacramento365, the region's one-stop, online calendar for arts and entertainment events, powered by Visit Sacramento and the City of Sacramento's Office of Arts and Culture (OAC).