Looking for a little help? Website admin Shanna Compton is adding user tips to this page as needed. Would you like to suggest a topic? Need help with your account? Email Shanna at admin@theumva.org.
NOTE: If you are a project leader, regional group leader, or exhibition coordinator looking for posting or submission review instructions, go to Backend Step-by-Steps.
Jump to: Frequently Asked Questions | Other Tech Tips | Feedback Requests In Progress & Completed
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Membership & Site Accounts
How do I create an account? Membership accounts are created when you join via the website. If you already had a valid membership in when the new site launched, you may use the “forgot password” link on the log in screen to request a password reset link. If you have changed your email address or if “forgot password” doesn’t work, email Shanna at admin@theumva.org to request a password link.
How do I log out? In the Members Area, navigate to Membership Account and look for the Log Out link below the welcome message.
How do I change my password? There are two ways to do this. You can use the Forgot Password? link on the login screen, or in the Members Area, navigate to Membership Account and look for the Change Password link.
Why won’t the site accept my new password? Your password should be at least twelve characters long. To make it stronger, use upper and lower case letters, numbers, and symbols like ! ” ? $ % ^ & ). The backslash character [\] will not be accepted. (Best practices for a secure password are available here.)
When will my membership expire? You’ll find this information in the My Memberships box on your Membership Account page.
Events Calendar / Member News & Events
How to Post to the Members Calendar Tutorial can be found here.
How do I create a Member Event? In the Members Area, look for Submit a Calendar Listing. All events must include an image in .jpg, .png, or .gif format, so be sure to have one ready, along with all of the pertinent information about your event including dates, times, address, venue website URL, etc. It may be helpful to type things up into Word or Notes (etc.) so you can copy/paste into the fields. Some venues are already in the system, but if your venue is not already in the system, you will be prompted to add it: Begin typing the name of your venue and it may appear in the list of choices. If not, see below. Be sure to fill out the information completely, but if you forget something, or something doesn’t look right when you save your event, don’t worry, you can come back and edit the event as many times as you need to. In the Tags field, choose member submission for member news and shows. This tag will include your event in the Members News & Shows calendar area. (Only site admins, board members, exhibition curators, and project leaders may use the official UMVA tags.) Please note: To ensure equitable access to the calendar as a promotional tool for all members, please limit event submissions to no more than 3 per week.
My venue is not in the list of choices. How do I add it? Type the name of your venue into the field. The blue bar will change to “Create: [Your Venue Name”]. Click the blue bar to open the venue creation submenu. Fill in the venue details. (Here’s a screenshot.)
The event organizer/contact is not in the list of choices. How do I add them? Type the name of the organizer or contact (this may be yourself) into the field. The blue bar will change to “Create: [Your Organizer Name”]. Click the blue bar to open the Organizer creation submenu. Fill in the organizer’s details.
How do I edit a Member Event? You can come back and edit the event as many times as you need to. In the Members Area menu, click See/Edit My Events. Choose the event you’d like to edit. Every time you edit an event, you must click the Terms box and click Update Event to save your changes. (EDITING is currently not working, email admin@theumva.org with your edits.)
What type of events can I post? There are categories for art talks, artist receptions, auctions, classifieds, exhibitions, open studio, pop up, and more. If none of the options fit your event, email Shanna to add a new category.
Why doesn’t my submitted event appear on the calendar? Typically that means it’s missing info, or you forgot to include the member submission for member news and shows tag. Head back to See/Edit My Events to correct it.
Meet Our Artists Gallery / Artist Pages
How to Create or Edit Your Artist Page Tutorial can be found here.
How do I create my Artist Page? Gather all your information and images before you begin. It may be helpful to type things up into Word or Notes (etc.) so you can copy/paste into the fields. You may post up to 6 images of artwork, plus a Feature Image. (The feature image is the one that shows on the main Meet Our Artists page. It can be the same as one of your 6 gallery images, or something different.) The maximum recommended size for images is 1200 px on the longest side. You will also be asked to choose your region, media, and to enter your website (if applicable) and your Artist Statement or bio. You may edit your page any time, so don’t worry if it takes you a few tries to get everything looking the way you expect.
Why won’t my Artist Page save? First, make sure you have filled in all areas marked with red asterisks (required), and include full URLs for any links. If those things are OK and your form will still not save, it’s usually an image issue. Check your images to see if any exceed the 3MB file limit. Unfortunately if any one of your images has a file size that’s too big, the form will not save and you will need to begin again. If you can’t determine which image is the issue, try this workaround: Create an Artist Page with just a feature image and the filled-in form, skipping the gallery images. Save the form. Then go to Edit Your Artist Page (under Members Area red menu) and click the little pencil icon to the right, under Options. The Edit form will allow you to add gallery images, and you can do them one at a time there, vs. all at once on the Create Form. NEW (Aug 2026)! Here is a tutorial for you. If this doesn’t solve your issue or you still need help, email Shanna at admin@theumva.org.
Call for Art Submissions System
How do I submit to a Call for Art? You’ll find all open Calls for Art in the Opportunities section of the Members Area. Listings and guidelines are public, but only members may access the submission forms and participate in the call. (Make sure you are logged in.) Important note: Gather all your information and images before you begin. It may be helpful to type things up into Word or Notes (etc.) so you can copy/paste into the fields. Partially filled forms will NOT save, and you should only submit one time. We have created a simple form that will remain consistent for all UMVA Call for Art submissions going forward. Here is a sample form, to use as a guide for gathering your submission materials. Please note: A couple of members have reported submission form issues when using Safari, but had success with Chrome and Firefox. If the submission form will not load for you, try an alternative browser or update your software.
Where are the image and naming requirements for a Call for Art? These bits of info are on the submission form itself. Scroll down to the part of the form where you add Image 1. Each field has instructions, including the pixel dimensions and max file size, how to name the jpgs, etc. (Note: As of 12/8/2024 we have simplified these requirements per curator and member feedback! (The only thing that will cause the form to reject your submission is going over 4MB image size limit, so don’t stress too much if it’s larger than required, so long as it’s under 4MB file size.)
Other Tech Tips
Resizing Photos (Apple OS or iOS)
Need to resize your images for a Call for Art submission or your Artist Page? If you’re on an iPhone, iPad, or Apple OS laptop, you can create Shortcuts to make these changes right on your device, without a separate app. Here’s a video showing how to create a Photo Resizing Shortcut. For Artist Pages, the recommended maximum size is 1100 px on the longest side. For Calls for Art the recommended maximum has been updated to 2100 px on the longest side. Ideally you are sizing down from a larger image—start with the best available photo of your artwork. Sizing up from a smaller image is not recommended (results in blurry/pixelated image).
DOWNLOAD PREMADE SHORTCUTS (Apple users) I created these for myself, and have them on both my iPad and iPhone. Feel free to download them if that seems simpler than creating your own. Here’s the Apple Shortcuts help page if you need instructions about how to add them to your devices.
ARTIST PAGES RESIZE (Mac): 1100 W resizes your landscape-orientation (horizontal) photo // 1100 H resizes your portrait-orientation (vertical) photo
CALL FOR ART RESIZE (Mac): 2100 W resizes your landscape-orientation (horizontal) photo // 2100 H resizes your portrait-orientation (vertical)
If you’d like to do more than just resize, you might check out Adobe Photoshop Express for iOS. The Camera app on your iPhone or iPad also provides editing tools to crop, straighten, adjust contrast and color, etc. They are well worth learning!
Resizing Photos (Android)
Here’s what I’ve found for how to resize photos on your Android phone. For Artist Pages, the recommended maximum size is 1100 px on the longest side. For Calls for Art the recommended maximum has been updated to 2100 px on the longest side. Ideally you are sizing down from a larger image—start with the best available photo of your artwork. Sizing up from a smaller image is not recommended (results in blurry/pixelated image).
This article recommends several other options, including Photo & Picture Resizer for Android and Adobe Photoshop Express for Android.
Snapseed (by Google) seems like another good option for general editing as well as resizing.
Your Android device also offers many built-in editing tools for to crop, straighten, adjust contrast and color, etc. They are well worth leaning!
Renaming Your Photos
When filling in a Call for Art submission form, you’ll notice the instructions ask for your images to be named in this format: FirstnameLastname_Title_Media_HxWsize_Price.jpg (or .jpeg or .png). This isn’t a trivial request—naming your images with this information saves your volunteer exhibition coordaintors and PR folks a ton of time. (Imagine getting hundreds of images for a show, you open the Dropbox to review them, and they are all called stuff like Image982034985.jpg. Naming your file not only lets coordinators and jurors see what’s what at a glance, but also prevents the PR team from having to rename every file they send to our media contacts (who also request this format).
Unfortunately, there’s no way to rename a photo in the camera or Photo app itself. Renaming is part of the Save As process, when you’re moving your photo from the camera to a storage folder. The simplest way to do this is to use Save As from your Camera Roll (if using an iPhone) to your Files App. Here’s a video showing how to do that.
Save As is an option when you are moving a photo from Photos to storage, including with the resizing shortcuts I’ve offered in the Resizing section above. Alternatively you can export all the photos you’re working with into a storage folder of your choice without renaming them, then go to that folder in your Finder and manually rename them there. Here’s a video of that process.
Feedback Requests in Progress
• A site redesign is in progress, to be completed in 2026. We are rethinking the Home page, moving all UMVA Exhibitions information and calls into a standalone Exhibitions Hub section, reorganizing menus and more. If you have any feedback or ideas for the site redesign, email them to Shanna at admin@theumva.org.