Artists shipping a site, not a CMS career

Static website hosting for artists fits when your public presence is a set of pages: selected works, bio, CV/PDF, exhibition list, and a contact path. You build or export those pages on your own machine, upload the output, and let the host serve files over HTTPS. StaticHost does exactly that. It does not run npm or Hugo remotely. It does not include email inboxes, a built-in CDN product, or a forever-free tier after a short trial. Plans are $9, $30, $65, and $130 per month with rising site and storage limits (staging on Pro, teams on Business).

nginx serves with try_files $uri $uri/ =404. Unknown paths do not silently open your homepage. Multipage sites and hash-based UI are fine; history-mode apps without files are not.

Who this is for

  • Studio artists with image-led portfolios.
  • Illustrators with a shop link out to a commerce platform.
  • Artists who want yourname.com for a clean CV and selected works.
  • Collectives publishing a simple exhibition microsite as HTML.

Who should look elsewhere: anyone requiring membership logins, server-side payments, or WordPress editorial workflow on the same box.

Publish path in plain steps

  1. Prepare HTML/CSS/JS and compressed images locally (or run your generator locally).
  2. Place index.html at the root of the folder you will upload.
  3. Zip contents; deploy; open HTTPS preview.
  4. Fix paths and mixed content on preview.
  5. Attach domain; create DNS; wait for verification; wait for certificate.
  6. Keep PDFs of statements or catalogs as ordinary files in the tree.

Guides that pair well: documentation-style static sites, CV-focused static hosting, and portfolio static hosting.

Worked example: a resume at yourname.com

You want yourname.com to show a short artist bio, three representative works, and a downloadable CV. Locally you create:

  • index.html — bio and image grid
  • cv.html — HTML version of the resume
  • cv.pdf — printable file
  • styles.css plus /images

You upload on Starter ($9). HTTPS preview shows the PDF link broken because it pointed at a Desktop path; you correct it to /cv.pdf and redeploy. Only then do you point DNS for yourname.com and www. After verification the certificate issues. Galleries elsewhere can deep-link to https://yourname.com/cv.pdf with a working padlock.

Updates are a text edit and a redeploy—not a plugin update. Mail still lives at a mail vendor if you need [email protected]. StaticHost never became your inbox.

Failure to avoid: changing WordPress URLs before HTTPS exists

Artists leaving a university WordPress site sometimes export poorly and also rewrite URLs to https://yourname.com before the new host has a certificate on that name. Visitors hit warnings; embeds break; old HTTP asset URLs linger.

If you still administer WordPress during transition, do not force HTTPS URLs in the database until TLS works on that hostname. If you have left WordPress for StaticHost, stop thinking in database rewrites: ship an HTML tree, validate it on StaticHost’s HTTPS preview, then point DNS, then rely on the custom-domain certificate after verification. Preview-first removes the urge to “fix URLs early” against a domain that is not ready. Under =404, old pretty permalinks that never became files will simply miss—export real paths.

When to pick a different product

Use a shop platform for inventory and checkout. Use proofing tools for private client review. Use PHP hosting if a curator demands WordPress. Use a forever-free host for ephemeral class sites if $0 forever is mandatory. Use a functions platform if your “portfolio” is an authenticated app.

Remain on StaticHost when the site is files and the workflow is build locally, host output. Upgrade to Pro ($30) if you want staging for a big exhibition microsite beside your main studio site. Scale and Business exist for many properties and larger storage—not for unlocking email or CDN SKUs.

Image and PDF practicalities

Compress exhibition photos for the web; keep print masters offline. Put statements as PDF only when necessary; HTML is more readable on phones. Avoid uploading multi-gigabyte zips of TIFFs. Storage ceilings (2/10/30/100 GB) are real; treat them as design constraints, not insults.

Exhibition microsites beside the studio home

Many artists need a temporary page for a show: dates, map embed, three installation shots, and a PDF checklist. That microsite is a perfect second site on Pro ($30): staging for the gallery’s communications lead, production for the public, teardown after the show. Your permanent yourname.com studio site stays untouched on another slot. Scale ($65) and Business ($130) exist when you maintain many show archives as separate static properties—still without email, still without a CDN product, still without remote npm.

Keep embeds honest. A map iframe or ticket widget is fine as third-party HTML; it is not StaticHost becoming a backend. Forms that should email the gallery director must use a form provider. If a curator asks for WordPress so they can “just tweak,” explain that StaticHost serves files you deploy; either you take copy changes and redeploy, or they need a PHP host. Clarity beats a broken half-migration.

Never zip the parent folder so index.html nests under an extra directory—homepage 404s are almost always that mistake under =404. Never point DNS before preview looks right. Never assume a trial preview URL is a domain you own forever; plans are paid after the short trial.

FAQ

Can I host my shop checkout on StaticHost?

Not as server-side commerce. Link out to a shop platform; keep the brochure static.

Does the host build my generative art toolchain?

No remote npm. Run builds locally; upload static output (and beware huge generative asset dumps).

Why is a shared album link 404?

That path is not a file. Create the HTML page or accept =404 behavior—there is no SPA fallback.

Is forever-free hosting available for artists?

No. Short trial, then paid plans at $9/$30/$65/$130.