About

Art Papers is an Atlanta-based nonprofit organization with an educational mission to provide accessible forums for documenting, examining, commissioning, and presenting contemporary art and culture in the world today. We do this through publishing and live programs.

Art Papers, originally the Atlanta Art Workers Coalition, was established in 1976 by artists interested in developing a local arts community while exploring ways to connect Atlanta’s art scene to those in other cities. They produced educational programs, and in 1977, printed their first newsletter. In 1991, ART PAPERS became a national art journal of prominence and by 2006 the publication had an international reputation, and became renowned for its annual art auction. In 2017 ART PAPERS magazine went quarterly and the website grew more dynamic.

In 2024, Art Papers launched a radical new three-year plan that pivots to publishing exclusively on ARTPAPERS.org and launches a program series to examine post-COVID realities of arts nonprofits in the southeast with community-led roundtables and public talks (2024-25), and a symposium on the national role of—and challenges facing—arts publishing and writing today (2025). Existing programs such as exhibitions and contributor conversations will continue. In 2024, Art Papers welcomed new Executive + Artistic Director, Sarah Higgins. Higgins was editor of ART PAPERS magazine since 2018 and is the visionary behind the new plan, which has invigorated the staff and Board, and attracted new Board members and funders.