CHANGING AN INDUSTRY WITH

RIVET

Smartphone displaying the Rivet website with options for open calls, resources, organizations, and login, featuring an image of a modern building and a search bar.

CASE STUDY

How do we create a more accessible way to search for and find opportunities in the art world?

THE MOMENT

September 2016: Working for a cumulative 13 years in the artist residency field, we noticed that it took a long time to find the right opportunity for creatives—up to 10 hours!? On top of that, it was hard to tell what the pricing transparencies were for each opportunity which means once a creative applied, was accepted, they were stuck with a bill of $2,000 and often had to turn down the offer.

THE RESEARCH

We surveyed over 1,200 working creatives and 100 organizations

  • 81.5% of 1,200 creatives surveyed think it’s a terrible mess

  • 47% of 100 organizations say they don’t get enough applicants

  • 51% of the organizations want more diverse applicants

THE PAIN POINTS

  • Transparency/Clarity

  • Funding

  • Accessibility

  • Time Wasted

  • Not getting enough diversified applicants

Spending 2 years to research and build slowly,

we created workshops and talks

to listen to our customers’ needs

A man in a dark blue sweater presents to a group of around 15 people seated in a circle in a well-lit room with a large white screen behind him. Participants are holding food and drinks, some using laptops or notebooks.
A woman standing and speaking to a group of people seated on chairs in a room with a low ceiling and a skylight. A man is lying on the floor in the foreground, resting his head on his hand.
Whiteboard with handwritten notes and questions about applying to things, making things less, and understanding barriers, including phrases like 'WHY WE DON'T APPLY to Things,' 'DON'T know about it,' 'WE CAN'T MAKE IT WORK,' and other assorted comments and annotations.

Our team

Co-Founders & Primary Team


Katrina Neumann, Lead Product Design, Marketing & Branding
Sebastien Sanz de Santamaria (Website), Lead Product Manager, Business Operations & Finances
Kira Simon-Kennedy (Website), Lead Business Strategy, Opportunities & Partnerships
Francis Tseng (Website), Lead Developer

Advisors


Linda Blumberg, MoMA PS1 Founder & ADAA President
Jason Huff (Website), Senior Product Manager Etsy
Ruby Lerner (Website), Creative Capital
Fei Liu (Website), Product Designer

Three people, two women and one man, standing against a background lit with colorful lights. The woman in front has blonde curly hair and is wearing a red off-shoulder top. The woman on the right has dark, wavy hair, glasses, and is wearing a patterned blazer. The man on the left has dark hair and is wearing a light blazer over a striped shirt.
Three people wearing solar eclipse glasses looking up at the sky during a solar eclipse outside a modern building with glass windows and a patterned exterior.
Group of four friends smiling outdoors in a parking lot with trees and hills in the background.

“From a terrible mess . . .

to easy searching capabilities”

Laptop displaying a website named Rivet with a digital building model on the screen against a teal background.

Our final MVP launched in the spring of 2018.

Visit Website

THE IMPACT

20k+ Creative Profiles

1.2k+ Organizations Worldwide

230+ Open Calls Monthly

Runs automatically with
little to no web administration

User acquisition is through word-of-mouth.
We went with a stealth quiet launch and the website has been slowly growing since 2018.

Today, most competitor’s websites emulate the research and design patterns that we set forth, creating a new standard of transparency, funding-first opportunities, & accessibility to information for all.

OUR SUPPORT

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Text that reads 'COMMON FIELD' displayed in black font on a white background, with the text distorted and stylized.
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