How to Post to the UMVA Members Calendar
The Tech Help area to the far right is marked with two stars.
Dear UMVA member artists—let us know what you have going on!
Maybe you’re not sharing your events, because you don’t know you can? You can! All members have permissions to post on the calendar. And if you gather your info first, it only takes a minute or two.
Here are the steps, with screenshots.
1. Log into the site
2. Navigate to Members Calendar/Submit Your Event in the red top menu.
3. Once you click Submit a Calendar Listing, you will be taken to the event form. (The site will prompt you to log in, if you forgot.)
4. The form is pretty straightforward, similar to the call for art applications. Here’s what the first part looks like.
5. Gather your info first! This will save you the potential headache of the site timing out while you hunt around for just the right image, etc. You’ll need Event Title (Town), event description, dates/times, venue name/address, and an image in .jpg, .png or .gif format.
6. Fill in the event title. We recommend including your name in the event title for solo shows, a workshop you’re teaching, or anything else in which you are a featured participant. This will help your peers and members of the public quickly scan for events in their area. Examples: Horizons: Karen Jelenfy (Belfast) or Dabble in Oil Paints with Kristi Marsh (Freeport). (For group shows, it may be more appropriate to save your name for the description field.)
7. Fill in the event description. There are formatting tools. Bold the most important information. See the example above for some ideas. If this is a group show or other event with multiple participants, this is the best place to include your name (and any other UMVA members who are participating), rather than in the title.
8. Set the date(s) and time(s) for your event. Keep it simple. Just dates and checking the box for “all day event” is the easiest, and you can add gallery hours in the description since they can vary day to day. TIP: You only need to “schedule multiple events” if it’s something like a class that repeats once a month, etc. This is not common. (That button creates multiple entries in the calendar, each under its own date.) For most events, we recommend setting the range of dates for your show. See Karen’s example of January 23–March 22, 2026, above. Setting the dates this way will keep your event on the calendar day for the whole period and create a single link for sharing.
9. Upload your image. This could be your exhibition graphic, poster from the gallery, or a piece of your artwork. Sometimes a photo of yourself might make sense. (Please do not use generative AI to create images, and please do not borrow others’ images without permission. We must respect copyright and intellectual property. You are perfectly fine sharing an image created by your event’s organizer—that’s what those are for and they will appreciate it!)
10. Choose event category. You can choose from a list of event type categories. (If you need to add a new category, email Shanna at admin[at] theumva[dot]org.) The list appears when you click on the field, and is alphabetical.
11. Choose event tag: Member News & Shows. This is important—the tag tells the website where your event belongs in the calendars. If you forget to assign a tag, you may not see your event displayed.
12. We’re moving into the second half of the form—and you’re doing great. Screenshot below. These next options are quick picks—Virtual Event (Skip it if your event is in person; this is where you can put Zoom details, etc.) Event Status (leave this as “Scheduled,” but if you have to postpone or cancel later, those options are available to update the listing.)
13. Venue Details. Like the categories, some venues are already available in the system—but you can add news ones if needed too. Click and begin typing the name of your venue. If it’s not there, the system will allow you to enter name, address, website, etc.
14. Organizer Details. Same here. Some options are preloaded from earlier events, but if you don’t see yourself or your organizer you can add it in the same way you can add new venues.
15. Event Website. Include the whole address, including the http:// or https://. Copy & paste is your friend.
16. Event Cost. Most of the time this is fine left blank, or you can type 0 to show the word “free” on the listing to be specific. If there are ticket sales or an admission charge, you can enter that instead.
17. Terms of Submission. Don’t forget to click this tiny box. (See image above.)
18. That’s it! Click Submit Event. Thank you so much for sharing!
*BONUS TIPS: Include the town in your title in parentheses to help your peers quickly find local events. Gather your info and image before opening the form, so the site doesn’t time out on you. If you need more help, see TECH HELP in the Member Resources menu. And you can always email Shanna for tech help.