Artsramble Archive

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July 7, 2006
The artsRambler Spouts: Reading the Paper
by artsRambler
The Original Gripe in the story of Artsramble's Genesis was the lack of printed media coverage by the Triangle's newspapers. A few weeks ago, we sent out a set of questions to the arts features editors of the Durham Herald-Sun, the Raleigh News and Observer and the Independent. [See "A Look in the Mirror" below, for the list of questions and how we at ArtsRamble answer them.] The sum of the questions was, in short: how do you serve the art-loving public? In the absence of any answers from these apparently busy people, we are left to speculation.
That would be fun but useless. So the artsRambler spent a chunk of time gathering statistics and crunching numbers. We looked at 3 months of arts reporting print media. The artsRambler is no statistician, or even mathematician, but we do love colored pencils and graph paper. We bore a mathematician and taught him his numbers. With these meager qualifications and common sense reasoning, we waded knee deep in newsprint, dividing stories into categories: News, Features, and Critical Reviews. Obits and Columnists were noted but not used in percentages.

How do the papers stack up? Comparing the two major dailies, we found that whereas the Herald's numbers were fewer, the dispersement was impressively serious. They printed 26 articles by our count in 3 months with 70% devoted to Critical Reviews, 12% Features and only 8% to News items. The News and Observer, on the other hand, printed twice as many articles (55) but only 27% were Critical Reviews, 18% were Features and a whopping 55% were news items. We decided not to evaluate the quality of the Critical Reviews as that seems a fine point , a sophistication to which we reserve the right to evolve in the future. However, we did hold the reviews as the highest level of arts reporting, recognizing the skills involved in analyzing process and product and drqwing from the vast history of art for context. Features were of variable worth. The Art Man Brings Joy to Kids, (Herald-Sun,June 23,) was a joyful human interest story that also showed art as an integral feature of a community. Ellen Sung's Feature on Nancy Baker was informative but they are also responsible for such plums as "Ghana Coffins do Six Feet Under in Style." Many of the news items seemed to come under the "filler" heading: donations to this or that, Congressmen showing student art, charity auctions and artists" good will"–but we'll take it. Another factor was that the News and Observer's content included 7% reprints from other news sources. The Herald-Sun was all Herald-Sun.

The intrepid Chapel Hill News (published twice weekly and owned by the N&O) served its community with 15 articles,: 39% News, 27% Features, 47% Critiques. Our statistics from the Independent Weekly were taken from their archives and include only 3 items between April and June: an Arts Advocacy article, 1 Spotlight and 1 Critical Review.

It might be time to mention here that our statistics were gather from a wonderful resource offered by the Wake County PUblic Library, NC LIve. This enables a library card holder to access huge databanks from the comfort of their own home computer. The Herald-Sun still does not list it's main art crtic's name as a keyword, and searching their site for reviews is fruitless.The helpful Cameron Village reference librarians mentioned to me that they paid lots of bucks the resource of NC LIVE and would love it if every soul in the county knew about it. OK. PSA’s over.

So what conclusions can we draw? Looking over a 3 month period we see the N&O printing 4, 8 and 3 critiques. The May number, perhaps a bit uncharacteristically inflated, seemed to be a rush of Michele Natale reviews before she started writing for the Independent. This leaves Ellen Sung at this point to write the seriously informative articles about artists, and we hope the editorial policy of the N&O supports her observations, positive or negative. Opining about perceived failures in work is a valuable service of informed observer-writers and they (neither writer or editor) should be afraid of this responsibility. The artsRambler keeps getting the feeling (in lieu of valuable, concrete input from the N&O) that this type of writing is avoided.The Durham Herald-Sun publishes the reviews of Blue Greenberg and Susan Broili like clockwork. Although there has been a slight decrease in overall arts reporting month by month over the period, their commitment is apparent. Finally, the Independent is again taking the mantle of Arts reporting by hiring Natale and publishing her weekly, thus far, from her first appearance.
It may be interesting to compare the numbers of arts articles to music, film and theatre pieces–even television reviews, for that matter. But you can do this. We need our studio time.

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6 Responses to “The artsRambler Spouts: Reading the Paper”

1. S.J. Coop Says:
July 9th, 2006 at 5:19 am e

I really don’t know what you’re griping about. Didn’t Sung and Jarvis have the centerfold in the weekend section Friday? And what about this morning’s huge piece from Jarvis? Seems like visual arts gets big coverage around here.
Now I’ll admit I’m new to Raleigh–yeah ,I’m a New Yorker– and I’ve been out of town for this past month, but from what I can see, this little Southern town does a pretty good job.
I’m glad you’re doing this thing. I even got space for a review in the last edition, so I shouldn’t bite the hand that feeds me. Not that you fed me or anything. Writing’s for free around here. You ought to fix that.
But it’s like you’re bitching for the sake of bitching. Tempest in a teapot.
Besides if you’re gonna bitch, why not do it right? Criticize the critics. Don’t just count numbers. Read the stuff and and apply the standard you are advocating for them on to yourself. What was it you said? “Opining about perceived failures in work is a valuable service of informed observer-writers and they (neither writer or editor) should be afraid of this responsibility. ” Very pretty. Do it.
2. Administrator Says:
July 9th, 2006 at 9:12 am e

Hmm. Well, Coop, your comments sent us grumbling back to the databases.

We looked at a 6-month period from October 1 to March 30. This time the search was reduced to only the News and Observer for the expediency’s sake. Also only reviews and features were counted. Significant news articles were added to the features column. In February there was a flurry of articles on the Fayetteville Mall “controversy,” and these were counted. Without this timely event, however, the average news reporting would have been very much reduced.

Lo and behold, we found only 4 reviews out of 36 articles, a non-walloping 11%. We included in this an architectural article, in the tradition of the venerable and long-gone Steven Litt. Some might argue it shouldn’t be there.

The features were again liberally inclusive. Everything from “It is written: calligraphy’s back” and “Biker artist says he’s no outlaw” to Diane Daniel’s well-written and true art features were counted. What ever happened to Diane Daniel , anyway? Come back! Write!

Craig Jarvis has consistently reported the business and machinations of the art world. Ellen Sung seems to have been introduced with a moderated interview in March and a review.

In the months from October to and including January, there were NO critical reviews, and then two per month.

So Coop, that’s what got us going. In January, sitting in Player’s Retreat one Friday night downing our weekly therapies-in-a-glass, I “bitched” to use your uncomely word to Dave Luyendyk, a web designer and good friend, and he said, “don’t just sit there. Do Something!”

So we did.

I must address your other comment about the “hand that doesn’t feed” you. You are right. You and all the writers should be paid for the work. As soon as the ads come rolling in, art gets bought, promotion is bought, writers will be paid. Some day.

Lastly criticizing the critics? Oh, we will, Coop. We will.
3. S.J. Coop Says:
July 9th, 2006 at 1:12 pm e

If you say so.
Even though I’m a newcomer here, I’ve been visiting this area for years. My former wife’s family is from this locale. Small towns have a way of thinking they’re the center of the universe. So do artists. The thought that the reading public might just not give a damn about what they do never seems to enter the mind. Perhap the editors at the N&O realized that nobody ever reads the stuff about art. I know it’s hard to hear, but at least consider this: art just won’t sell papers around here. I’m on your side. Art should be reported in the papers, but it ain’t New York, Ms. Artrambler.
4. Spanders Says:
July 9th, 2006 at 6:43 pm e

Coming from NJ originally, my experience is that much of the coverage in the metropolitan area is really focused on New York. Being near New York city is a mixed blessing. If you live in a nearby area, there is a brain drain as much of the talent is attracted to the city. Here in Raleigh I think that there’s a real opportunity to discuss and celebrate what’s going on. There’s an opportunity to include people who are moving here from other metropolitan areas who have always felt intimidated by the big city and get them involved because of that lack of intimidation.

As one of the northerners who has come down here, I find everything much more accesible than NYC. Use that to your advantage. The art here is as good as NYC, just less of it. Can you imagine what Raleigh will be in 10 years? Think about what Raleigh was 10 years ago. My projection is that opportunities for art will become greater and greater.

It’s sad that we as a culture put as little emphasis on art as we do. Art is all around us and is part of our lives, but people tend to think of is “it doesn’t look like anything… why would I pay X for it?” In other words, art is equated with money. Value is different than what things cost. Is the value of what artists do here in the Triangle different than in NYC? I would argue that it perhaps is more accessible here.
5. antonio rivera Says:
July 10th, 2006 at 12:17 pm e

As a member of the art community sinc my debut here in nineteen-eighty, I have always lamented the lack of serious coverage of issues related to art, and not least valid criticism that does more than describe the work on a wall.

There was a brief period in the late 80’s and early 90’s, when there were a number of critics and venues for them to publish in. These critics were of varying qualities and with varied credentials (Litt of course was atrocious, some retired, some were forcibly retired and some left for greener pastures elsewhere. Since then there has been a critical lack of serious address on art in our local media. That is why the founders and supporters of the ramble have reason to lament. Art criticism when it has occured in the last five years has addressed appearances and not the craft or intent or commincation derived by the art, such criticism belongs more in the social pages with wedding announcements, for the good it does the audience and its service to aid the artist in growing.

One of the reasons I partake in the ramble is that At Last, there may be a way for artist to realize they have a genuine communnity or can create one. For the fact is that ‘what new comers may take as accessiblity’ is an illusion, for all of my time here, I have seen no sense of community and little dialogue between artists…till now. (Thankfully, I have made a few deep friendships with some artist, and that has sustain me and I hope us.)

I think some asking around about the state of the arts over the last twenty five years in this area and how it has changed, might be in order
6. ellensung Says:
July 11th, 2006 at 2:00 pm e

As one of the people fortunate enough to write about art for a living — and an implicit subject of this thread — I thought I’d chime in.

First, a clarification. It’s true that the N&O story count for visual arts *is* exceptionally low during the end of 2005 and the first two months of 2006. I was on medical leave more or less from mid-August on with two unrelated health issues. At the start of 2006 I returned but did desk duty only, so you’ll see that most of my stories are telephone interviews with celebrities like Hildi Santo Tomas or Keith Urban.

Please don’t read anything into that low number: There is no feeling at The N&O that visual arts weren’t up to snuff for those months. Quite the contrary, it pained both me and my editor, Suzanne Brown, to let so much go uncovered. Michelle Natale, now of the Independent, did a valiant job stepping in to write as much as possible while juggling her own career as an artist.

Secondly, I have always had an open-door policy for discussions about our coverage and our approach to visual arts writing. My phone number and email appear at the end of every bylined story. If anyone who reads this blog wants to have lunch or coffee, give me a call (919-829-4565) or drop me a line (esung@newsobserver.com). If you don’t like something I write, please let me know. If you want to tell me about a gallery show, please let me know. I can’t promise that I will cover everything, but I certainly appreciate hearing about it.

As for criticism, the News & Observer would love to run more. However, it is extremely difficult to find a freelance critic who is not (a) represented by a gallery; (b) working for a museum or other arts organization; (c) can write; and (d) can write on deadline. If you know anyone who fits these criteria, please do let us know. I’ve been looking and asking for over a year.

In the meantime, I have started to fill that role more often. I did not feel comfortable in my first year on the job writing criticism because I felt I lacked sufficient knowledge about the local arts scene to provide useful context. By my second year (2006), I came to feel differently. Still, I am not a full-time critic and balance reviews and shorter, go-and-see suggestions for What’s Up with a slate of broader news stories and features for A&E, Sunday Journal, Life, and the front page. You’ll also see broad coverage from The N&O this fall for the Monet exhibition at the NCMA, product of an exceptional commitment by The N&O to send a reporter and a photographer to Normandy.

Comparing the coverage of visual arts to our coverage of other art forms is useful, but I think problematic. I like to think that The N&O does a fine job covering pop music and film. Both of those are mass media, though, and visual arts is not. Visual arts is probably most analogous to theater, where there is extreme variety of venue sizes, quality, professionalism, and ambition. We can review every work by the symphony or the ballet, because they each have 6 to 12 productions per year. A typical art gallery has at least 9 shows annually and there are dozens of art galleries beyond the three major museums, the excellent if small NCCU art museum, and the Weatherspoon Art Museum. In the era of Chuck Twardy and Steve Litt, there were maybe a dozen art venues in the entire Triangle.

Did anyone else note that the Indy, the Herald-Sun AND the N&O all reviewed the “young and hot” gallery show at Lee Hansley? I’m sure this has something to do with the high quality of the show. It also may have something to do with it being the slow summer months, so the number of shows is actually small enough that one could theoretically get around to all of them.

I’m glad that Andrea has started this blog to have another outlet for discussion and debate about art. I think it enriches us all, including arts writers like myself who are traditionally expected to start the conversation. However, I hope that instead of merely dissecting The N&O (and it does seem that even if we write 55 stories, it’s never enough… even if the Independent writes three in the same time period), we put our energy into thinking about the art and artists themselves.

Shonna Greenwell from Rebus Works said something the other day that really stuck with me, that artists are by nature industrious people. She said it in the context that artists are the industrious ones who revitalize communities and are always the first wave of gentrification. But they’re also industrious enough to bring energy to antiseptic white-walled rooms, to create art under the most trying conditions while balancing other jobs, and surely to create a space for vigorous, rigorous, constructive conversation here at the ArtsRamble. I look forward to reading more.

- Ellen