Toward a New Art World

Under new Editor Michael Pittari, volume 22 continued the all-theme focus begun by Ruth Resnicow the previous year but with an editorial direction that was not so much a break from the magazine’s past as much as an embrace of the changing issues in contemporary art. The year began with an issue guest edited by Senior Editor Jerry Cullum, “Re-thinking Folk Art,” which epitomized the new direction for its global view of self-taught art, and continued with a more traditional issue on “The Future of Alternative Spaces.” “New Trends in Contemporary Art” (see photo) broke new ground through explorations by Contributing Editors Maureen Sherlock and Dinah Ryan on suburban and gothic art aesthetics, and an issue on “Education in the Arts” addressed K-12, college and museum art education while discussing technology and digital culture as new components of learning. The September/October issue, “Art and Film,” contained an interview with David Lynch in addition to articles on Peter Greenaway and the painterly aesthetics of Jean-Luc Godard. That issue also saw the inclusion of a new column, “In,” on international art scenes. The year concluded with “Art, Identity, Stereotypes,” an issue which re-visited many of the themes of 1997’s “Cultural Ownership” with some humorous twists.