Art Conspiracy

Swift · FileMaker Data API · CloudKit · Core Data · MusicKit · Amazon S3 · Kingfisher · Firebase Messaging · Slack API · Twilio API

Art Con is street level philanthropy with equal parts community art event and fundraiser. Each November, 150 artists converge on a warehouse-turned-art studio to create unique works of art on 18″ x 18″ boards. The work is auctioned the following week, in a high energy, one-night event raising tens of thousands of dollars for other non-profit art organizations serving the City of Dallas.

A signature event like Art Con requires hundreds of people; artists, volunteers, musicians, food trucks, sponsors, etc. Trying to wrangle all of that with a spreadsheet is nuts, so I designed a FileMaker solution (and companion iOS app) to help manage everything. Having the right tools has completely reinvented the way Art Con produces events.

The Volunteer Director uses specialized FileMaker layouts to process volunteer submissions, curate skill sets, and communicate with teams leading up to the event. A simple SMS bot (Twilio) is available for volunteers to log their hours back to the database. Volunteers are checked-in and managed on the night of the event using FileMaker Go.

Artist Call responses are curated in FileMaker as well. Artists and their event history are instantly searchable. Check-ins and -outs are managed with FileMaker Go on the extremely busy ‘Artist Workday’, and artists can update their profile anytime via web or SMS bot.

These tools help drive production of programs, auction labels, slide projections, etc. The FileMaker database also serves as a backend for the iOS app (using the FileMaker Data API).