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View Full Version : A new beginning for the WC! community


scottb
12-01-2004, 11:58 AM
Greetings, fellow WC’ers!

When I started the WetCanvas! community 5 years ago, I honestly had no idea that it would blossom into the most thriving, active community on the Internet for visual artists. However, that is indeed what we have collectively created! What started out as an effort to share information among a few cyber friends has evolved into a veritable gold mine of information for the aspiring or practicing artist. We truly have created an amazing place that has touched countless lives and careers. I am proud of all that we have accomplished together!

While I have enjoyed the exciting undertaking of growing the WC! community, I have reached the difficult decision that now is the right time for me to move on in a different personal and professional direction. Effective December 1st, I will be stepping down as the owner and site administrator for wetcanvas.com and art-agent.com.

Let me be the first to assure you that the new owner, Kerri Lynn Eustice, a fellow artist and a longtime admirer of WC!, shares my vision and passion for connecting artists and putting in place the tools and technology necessary to bring artists together. I truly feel fortunate to have found such a dedicated and able individual and I know WC! will only flourish in the future under the care of Kerri.

As I have grown to know many of you personally (or virtually, as the case may be!), I feel an obligation to personally share with you my reasons for making this decision. As some of you know already, my father passed away suddenly a few weeks ago. I am discovering the need to spend more time with my mother as she tries to get her life back together. This is a very difficult time for our family, as you can imagine.

Also, as many of you know, I am involved in running several other sites and businesses, and the time and energy requirement for those is immense. Further draining my time is the fact that after nearly 20 years away from academia, I am knee-deep in the pursuit of my graduate degree. I’m sure that many of you have noticed the drop off in my participation over the past few months (and steadily over the past year or so). As such, my continuing to serve in a leadership capacity here at WC! would simply not be fair to our members or industry partners, as there is much work yet to be done!

For these, and other reasons, the time required to continue to expand and operate the site is simply not available to me right now.

Effective December 1st, Kerri will be assuming ownership and the operational responsibilities for both wetcanvas.com and art-agent.com. Kerri is an artist, and a solid technologist, who shares our vision for this community, and she is dedicated to continuing to make WC! the best place on the net for artists. Her passion for art combined with the likeminded passion of all our members will ensure the growth of WC! for many years to come.

What does this mean for WC! community members? To be honest with you, quite a bit! In the short term, the site will continue to operate as is, as Kerri gets her arms around things a bit. In the long term, she has shared with me some of her exciting ideas on expanding the services and content for the betterment of the community as a whole.

What does this mean for WC! partners? Kerri’s commitment to the WC! community will only better serve our partners and clients. Our partners will continue to have access to the most thriving online community of artists.

I would also like to extend a tremendous thanks to all of the moderators, guides, and others who have gone above and beyond in making WC! The best community on the net for artists. Most of all, I'd like to extend a thanks to our members. It is through our shared passion that we achieved so much over the past five years. As I prepare to relinquish control of the community to Keri, I can do so knowing that the community is indeed in good stead.

So, gang, please join me in welcoming Kerri to the community! I'm sure she will be posting soon to provide her own thoughts and that you will all get to know more about her in the coming days, months, and years. I will be working with Kerri over the next few months to transition the operation of both sites.

Who knows? Maybe now, I’ll have time to actually paint again. I'll stop by and post my new creations from time to time, and of course, I wish each and every one of you the very best in all that you do! Thank you so much for collectively touching my life, and giving me the opportunity to befriend you all.

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/01-Dec-2004/15-scott_painting.gif

Cheers.
Scott

keustice
12-01-2004, 12:00 PM
Greetings WC’ers!

My name is Kerri Lynn Eustice and I am excited to announce that I am the new owner and administrator of this incredible community that is WetCanvas!

Scott, Phyllis, and every fantastic moderator, guide, and member have done a phenomenal job in building the site into a thriving community with over 50,000 members and thousands of posts a day. It really is extraordinary to think of what WetCanvas! has come to mean for tens of thousands of members. The significance of WetCanvas! to the community of artists cannot be overstated, from people posting on their hospital beds while convalescing from amnesia to art projects sent all around the world and sold for charity.

As you may be able to tell, I can’t be more excited and grateful to Scott for this opportunity. I plan to stay consistent to the vision of helping artists freely connect with each other while creating innovative tools to improve the community and the lives of artists, whether this be creating new ways of selling art to new ways of interacting with artists to developing the most comprehensive repository or art lessons and art business content on the Internet.

And more than anything, I am looking forward to getting to know all of you through your posts and your chat and your feedback as I work to improve our tools and content.

Just to give you some background on myself, my interest in art spawned out of a love for architecture. I discovered my passion for art while taking a drawing course at a high school summer program in architecture at Catholic University. Since then, I started painting and now decorate my house with a few of my originals.

During college, an opportunity came along to run an Internet startup with the man I was dating – we were high school sweethearts! A week after graduation, we packed up the truck with everything we owned and drove cross-country from NJ to CA and set up camp. The business was a success and I channeled my interest in art into web design to create some very cool web sites. Since then I have turned my attention back to my passion for art. And I can’t think of a better way to combine my interests in art and the Internet than to work on WetCanvas!

From my home office, I plan to dedicate 100% of my energy, working full time to support the WC! community and art-agent.com. I have many ideas for new services and adding new content to the community that I have shared with Scott and he agrees will help continue to keep the community growing. He is very supportive and happy that I will be able to devote more time to improving the websites.

From the bottom of my heart, I want you to know that WetCanvas! is a dream come true for me. I cannot wait to get started.

Keep on posting!
Kerri

P.S. – In the time it took me to write this letter there were over 500 new posts! :)

llis
12-01-2004, 12:35 PM
Just wanted to add that I know I speak for everyone here at WetCanvas in also thanking Scott for creating this community for all of us and I know that Kerri will continue in grand style what we all have worked so hard to build.

:)

Phyllis