Friday, September 16, 2011

Pacific Standard Time: Art in LA 1945-1980 launches web site

Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A. 1945-1980 has launched its innovative virtual hub, www.pacificstandardtime.org The website provides an essential visitor’s guide to the region-wide collaboration of more than 60 cultural institutions across Southern California that are coming together to tell the grand-scale story of the rise of the Los Angeles art scene.

The experiential and visual portal for Pacific Standard Time serves as a centralized source for up-to-date information about the six-month-long initiative and its participating partners, exhibitions and events. The website offers sophisticated search options and personalized recommendation functions to help visitors navigate their way around the hundreds of programs associated with Pacific Standard Time.

“The history of art in Southern California is a big story to tell, and the website will be an essential tool to help users begin to visualize the many narratives within Pacific Standard Time,” stated Gloria Gerace, Managing Director of Pacific Standard Time. “The portal also serves as the ultimate visitor’s guide to Pacific Standard Time, providing users with tools to navigate the many concurrent exhibitions and programs and easy links to all of the Pacific Standard Time partners. There are multiple ways to assist visitors with making choices and planning their itineraries.”

From the “Exhibition” tab on the website’s homepage, visitors can select an exhibition from among the many partner organizations; when they click; they will find a series of captivating and enticing images of works of art related to the show. They will also find pertinent information about the venue, a list of related events and a link to Google Map directions. The wealth of Pacific Standard Time content, including information about tours, performances, panel discussions and more, can be sorted by institution, theme, location, date range and other categories, allowing users to create a personalized list of must-sees.

A key feature of pacificstandardtime.org is MyTime, a function that lets users bookmark items of interest and curate their own tour programs. This feature can provide personalized recommendations based on user answers to a handful of simple questions, which are codified to reflect individual visual and artistic preferences.

Within the “Visit” section, visitors to the website will find locations of Pacific Standard Time museums on maps, which allow users to zoom closely into local neighborhoods. Separately, maps of the seven regions, corresponding to the Pacific Standard Time printed brochure and regional focus weekends, are also available. Adding to the overall online experience, the local online directory Thrillist.com provides information including nearby restaurants and shops, as well as locations to Pacific Standard Time sponsors Bank of America and The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.

As part of the collaborative effort to illuminate, explore and celebrate the rise of the Los Angles art scene, the site features an official Pacific Standard Time blog where guest columnists join the conversation. The weekly posts will include informative behind-the-scenes looks and insights into featured exhibitions and events. Facebook, Twitter and email sharing buttons throughout Pacificstandardtime.org allow users to freely share exhibition and event descriptions, blog posts and their own MyTime itineraries.

Pacificstandardtime.org allows users to connect their Facebook accounts to their MyTime profiles to receive personalized recommendations based on information in their social media profiles. From pacificstandardtime.org, Twitter users can link to twitter.com/pstinla, and follow Pacific Standard Time tweets.

Another essential resource on the website will be the Pacific Standard Time family guide, targeted for families with children ages 8 - 17. The guide allows families to customize their Pacific Standard Time experience to take best advantage of their museum visits. The guide, downloadable from the website, is formatted as a series of seven guided activity sheets, each addressing a specific theme: Southern California, Photography and Prints, Cultural Identity, Design, Performance Art, Light and Space, and Politics (a special guide for teens). Each fun-filled guide can be used across a series of exhibitions, encouraging families to visit more than one museum and to make meaningful connections among artworks and exhibitions. These guides are offered in both English and Spanish.

The Pacific Standard Time website will also feature video content, including a specially produced video series that reveals the connections between artists of the Pacific Standard Time era and cultural icons of today’s generation. As the site launches, the series debuts with Ed Ruscha and Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers discussing how they draw inspiration from Los Angeles.

Pacificstandardtime.org was created by TBWA\Chiat\Day Los Angeles and is part of an integrated advertising campaign developed by the agency that will include online video, TV PSA’s, digital, print, outdoor, radio and theatrical ads.

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