Monday, May 07, 2007

AJC Arts Coverage Petition

The following post was lifted directly from the Atlanta Artnews blog. Sign the petition at the end of the article - its painless and serves the greater good of the Atlanta Arts Community.

To: insideajc@ajc.com (Ms.Angela Tuck)
Dear Ms. Tuck,

I just read your questions for Julia Wallace in today's paper (May,05). Thanks for taking the time to inform your readers.

I am forwarding to you another petition that is circulating. The visual arts community is very concerned about the reviews of local art events. That is, critical reviews of art exhibitions in town which are normally written by Cathy Fox.
Ms. Wallace said in your interview that there would be 'artist profiles', that is good, but we are very concerned about the actual coverage of exhbitions and having a visual artist critic that can provide a critical analysis of the art that is produced in this city. That is a very different function than 'profiles' which center around a 'story' about the artist that is featured, as opposed to a critical analysis of art. Profiles are interesting to read but perform a different function.

Major newspapers in the country have culture critics. Critics perform a unique service to a community. They create interest in the culture of that specific city, they create a dialogue between the art and the community, they bring insight and understanding to the work at hand, and they 'criticize' that is they apply their knowledge and discernment. A critic's voice is essential in any creative community.

Many of us realize the difficulties facing all newspapers today. But, as you can see by the uproar that has been caused by the recent 'restructuring' at the AJC----newspapers matter. People want their paper to be a source of intellectual information not only the fastest source of news....you can get instant news by flipping on CNN in two seconds. NEWSPAPERS CREATE A COMMUNITY.

Attached is the petition circulating for the Visual Arts critic.
Thank you for your time,
Rocio Rodriguez
Atlanta, GA

http://www.PetitionOnline.com/AJCArt/petition.html