Whither Arts Journalism in LA?
As a working artist in Los Angeles, I’ve always been frustrated and perplexed over the amount of dominance New York wields when it comes to art journalism. There are thousands of talented artists in California cities from San Francisco to San Diego. Los Angeles has become a dynamic center for artistic production, but also the home to world class museums, galleries and schools. Yet, there is very little arts journalism coming out of Southern California, and much of what is written about LA artists comes from New York art publications. Naturally, my web log in part seeks to help rectify that problem. I’m happy to see that a forum and panel discussion titled, Whither Arts Journalism in LA?, has been organized by the Greater LA chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. The entire artistic community of Southern California is invited to attend the forum, where “nothing less than the way Southern California art is perceived around the world” will be the topic at hand. The panel will be moderated by Adolfo Guzman Lopez (arts and education reporter for KPCC radio), and the panelists include Christopher Knight (art critic for the Los Angeles Times), Malik Gaines (performer and art writer for artUS magazine), Peter Frank (art critic for the LA Weekly and Angeleno magazine), and Caryn Coleman (co-owner of Sixspace Arts gallery and writer for art.blogging.la). The event takes place at 7 pm, Thursday, March 24th, 2005 at the El Paseo Inn on LA’s historic Olvera Street - Downtown LA. East 11 Olvera Street. (213) 626-1361. Please RSVP to Mariel Garza at mariel.garza@dailynews.com, or 818-713-3685.
