ArtVark

ArtVark was a gallery of illustrative art which is suitable for a general audience. Although its focus was primarily on furry artwork, it welcomed non-anthro contributions.


 * Addresses:
 * Website: http://artvark.us/
 * LiveJournal: http://community.livejournal.com/artvarkbootcamp/
 * IRC: irc://irc.anthrochat.net/artvark
 * Administrators: Fangs and Tarah_Fae
 * Ran from/to: September 2004 - January 2011(?)

In January 2011, visiting the website results in a basic text web page that says: I have taken the forum down. It is not broken, hacked, overloaded, under maintenance, or any other reasons. I turned it off manually. If anyone wishes to discuss this, contact me via email (rdewalt at gmail.com) or via IMs. (AIM: tetfolf ICQ: 2341064 YIM: ryan.dewalt ) -Ryan [[Media:Artvark.jpg]]

History
The proposal for an alternative art gallery to Yerf, with differing content and admission standards, was first made on the Yerf message boards in the autumn of 2003. This suggestion met with considerable support, and the code, rules and appearance of the gallery were developed over the following months, initially under the working title of "Dook", which was changed to "ArtVark" for obvious reasons. :) The site's message forums went live on 10th September 2004, the first applications were accepted on 12th September 2004, and the first picture was uploaded on 16th October 2004.  ArtVark is hosted on Tet Solfire's server.

In November 2005 Tarah Fae announced that ArtVark would be put on hiatus. No new applications were to be accepted, but the existing galleries would remain open until the site could be brought back to full operational status.

On January 8th, 2006, Tarah Fae announced several changes to the gallery, including the removal of the grading system, and revamping of the applicant process. On February 6, 2006 ArtVark opened its doors to new applicants for the first time in four months.

The site has been dead for awhile, as Tarah Fae stated that ArtSpots is "filling the niche nicely" and she no longer has any interest.

Art policy
ArtVark is a site for non-adult work; sexually-suggestive and violent images are prohibited. Originally, ArtVark had a strict policy of restricting its content to furry images, with human characters being forbidden. However, this proved unpopular, and the restriction was removed in May 2005.

One controversial aspect of ArtVark is its rating system. All applicants had their work assessed using a detailed numerical scale, and each successful artist is given a grade of B, B+, A, or A+ depending on their score. This grading system lead to criticism on charges of "elitism", and the complex review system did, on occasion, lead to delays in artist's applications being processed. There were also bruised egos and outrage from some fans when the Grading System was altered so that four artists who had been previously accepted with a B were now rejected with a C. This grading system was later removed.