Western Canada's art magazine since 2002
5 November 2019 Vol 4 No 23 ISSN 2561-3316 © 2019
From the Editor
Portia Priegert
Publishing an online arts magazine can be financially challenging. While production costs are lower than for a print magazine, editorial costs – like paying writers – remain constant. Sadly, the fierce competition for online advertising dollars also means revenues are harder to come by.
This fiscal balancing act was top of mind last week as I helped prepare an application for a project grant from the Canada Council for the Arts. We're hoping for our second-ever grant from the council so we can continue to provide much-needed coverage of Western Canadian art and artists, too often overlooked by national publications.
The Canada Council is a vital source of stable support for the arts, which is particularly important now in Alberta, where the United Conservative government's first budget includes cuts to arts funding over the coming year, a salvo that signals tough times ahead.
It’s a shortsighted move, of course, since the arts sector consistently punches far above its weight in terms of value for money and its many contributions to a healthier society. But it underlines why it’s ever-more important for citizens to support local culture, whether by attending shows and performances, buying work from artists or, of course, subscribing to art magazines.
In the case of Galleries West, the cost of a subscription – basically an email newsletter every second Tuesday alerting you that another issue has been posted at gallerieswest.ca – is the best deal going. It’s absolutely free.
Quick clicks on links in the newsletter give you seamless access to six generously illustrated stories and reviews, as well as visual arts news that few mainstream media outlets cover these days.
In this issue, for instance, you can read Dick Averns’ take on a fascinating show in Calgary by Nep Sidhu, a Toronto artist of South Asian heritage who has been attracting attention across Canada. We also feature Christina Cuthbertson’s review of a stellar show in Lethbridge, Alta., by Alicia Henry, a leading American artist who reflects black experience via innovative mixed-media portraits.
John Thomson checks out a show of public art, mostly themed around animals, by Vancouver artist Myfanwy MacLeod and, in Edmonton, Agnieszka Matejko writes about emerging artist Christeen Francis, who addresses the rapid pace of change in contemporary cities. As well, we have stories about Hazel Litzgus, a remarkable 92-year-old Alberta folk artist, and Michael Hosaluk, an endlessly inventive Saskatchewan woodworker.
Looking ahead, a highlight of our next issue is a review of an important Edmonton exhibition by the five finalists for the Sobey Art Award, one of Canada's most prestigious visual art prizes. We're also working on a story about how Western Canadian art galleries are responding to climate change and other environmental challenges. And planning is well underway for our third annual art books issue in December. The books issue has become one of our most popular projects.
Healthy cultural ecosystems – like those in the natural world – are not monocultures. Rather, a broad spectrum of activities fills different niches, interacting and cooperating with each other so the overall system can thrive.
Subscribing to art magazines is a community-minded thing to do. You are supporting not only artists and galleries, but also arts writers, who typically have few places to publish.
Your support is not inconsequential.
In an era of metrics, a quality production with strong numbers helps convince galleries to advertise, and funding bodies, like the Canada Council, to offer their support. In that light, we’re happy to report that Galleries West now gets some 16,000 unique views every month – about double the number back in the print days prior to 2017.
So please consider signing up for our newsletter. If you already subscribe, thanks! And if you have a moment, help strengthen the arts ecology even more by sharing our stories with your network. With more subscribers, we can attract more revenue, and with more revenue we can broaden and deepen our coverage to serve you – and others – better.
Until next time,
CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE: Dick Averns, Christina Cuthbertson, Agnieszka Matejko, John Thomson