2019->2020

We at Art Papers want to thank you for engaging with us. Thank you for reading, for participating in our programs, for supporting us in the many ways that you do, but most of all, thank you for being a fan of art with us.

For me, 2019 will always be special. I joined the team of Art Papers in May—after a year as interim editor—with enthusiasm for the future and reverence for the inspiring work of my predecessors. As my first year in the role of editor and artistic director draws to a close, and as Art Papers enters our 44th year as a nonprofit arts and culture organization, we are excited to launch new initiatives, reach more readers, support the work of inspiring artists and writers, continue producing signature programs, and engaging our audience more deeply.

2019 had so many highlights:

• We launched a bold new look for the print publication with designer Benjamin Critton.
• We published Emily Watlington’s groundbreaking guest-edited issue on Disability and The Politics of Visibility.
• Across print and web, ART PAPERS published exactly 100 texts in 2019—including essays, reviews, interviews, glossary entries, and letters from the editor.
• We produced artist projects by Kahlil Robert Irving, Safia Elhillo, Aaron Gemmill, Amalia Ulman, Christine Sun Kim, Andrea Crespo, Joseph Grigely, Daniel Rich, and Kojo Ayodele Griffin.
• We dove into the ART PAPERS archives and published dossiers of contributions by Mildred Thompson and D. Eric Bookhardt.
• We presented AP LIVE talks with Amy Sherald in partnership with Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, and Dario Robleto in partnership with Georgia State University’s Ernest G. Welch School of Art & Design.
• We debuted AP Summer Studios, a series of studio visits with four Atlanta-based artists, bringing together our networks of collectors and artists.

We maintained a globally engaged outlook in 2019 with a quarter of our production focused outside the US—with texts on artistic production in countries including Austria, Ethiopia, Japan, Lebanon, North Macedonia, Mexico, Norway, and Turkey among others. Our coverage of the US continued our longtime engagement with cities large and small, and those outside traditional arts and culture centers. We also showed a lot of love to our hometown in 2019. Of the 100 texts published, we focused on the artists and institutions of Atlanta more than those of any other city.

Hello 2020— 

We’re bringing new voices and perspectives to the Art Papers audience with the launch of our new Podcast-in-Residence program, AP LISTEN. We’re sending our subscribers a special issue of artist projects and poetry—a traveling exhibition in magazine form. We’ll continue mining the depths of the AP Archives to publish essays and interviews with present-day relevance. Our quarterly print publication will explore themes of civil and human rights, labor, speculative masculinities, and forms of transformation.

ART PAPERS LIVE, our signature talks series, kicks off January 30 with writer and curator Laura Raicovich speaking on the myth of neutrality in art museums. Then on April 2, Theaster Gates will discuss his exhibition at Spelman College Museum of Fine Art. More 2020 AP LIVE events TBA, so keep an eye out! Plus we have a few more initiatives in the works that will be announced later in 2020.

We value and appreciate your support year-round, but there are a few key moments when it is particularly crucial. An end of year donation to our Annual Fund is a great way to support the programs that happen early in the coming year.

The ART PAPERS Art Auction is another great way to support our programs. Join the host committee, sponsor the Auction, buy a ticket, and join us on February 22, 2020.

And last but not least, subscribe to ART PAPERS. Your subscription makes ART PAPERS possible.

Thanks again for being part of the Art Papers family of creative professionals and the culturally curious. We look forward to experiencing the next decade with you.

Sincerely,

Sarah Higgins
Editor + Artistic Director
Art Papers