Why Build an Artist Website?

Social media can be useful, but it should not be the only place an artist exists online. Platforms change rules, remove accounts, and bury posts under algorithms. They historically restrict and censor queer, nude, sexual, or experimental work, reducing our visibility and making it difficult to preserve and cultivate our work in a meaningful way.

For queer artists especially, this instability cuts deep. Work that involves the human form, intimacy, sexuality and gender expression, grief, nightlife, and queer community can be misunderstood or removed without warning. Queer artwork almost invariably gets pushed to the fringe, whether by our doing or not.

An artist website more than just a more durable place to gather and display your work. It's a way to retain your history, so we can all learn and grow from it. Our sites can hold images, writing, projects, publications, exhibitions, presented in the context it deserves to be.

A website does not need to be complex. It can be one page. It can be static. It can evolve slowly. The most important thing is that it belongs to you, something that a social media profile can't provide.

This simple guide starts with the bare basics: choosing a domain, deciding what belongs on your site, protecting your privacy, and keeping your work accessible over time.