Why Should We Care About Your Art?
Why should we care about your art? A call to Philadelphia artists
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
Be persuasive.
Keith Arnatt, "Trouser-Word Piece," 1972
tate.org.uk
tate.org.uk
Artists — in 2015, we want you to tell us, in your own words, why the work you’re doing is important and interesting. We want to get the word out about Philly artists who aren’t having their voices heard in other spaces. We want to publish your voices in our pages and on our website.
Besides the work you pour into actually creating art, there’s the matter of hoping that you can share your work with an audience. (If that's your goal, of course.) But sometimes, it’s hard to get anyone to pay attention. There’s a lot of competition. There might just be a long period of waiting. That’s part of the process. But we want to try to give Philly artists a leg up.
Write a 125-words-or-less statement telling us Why We Should Care About Your Art. Direct us to your website, an upcoming show you’re in, a project you’re working on — anything in your own words to tell the Philly public why they might be interested in seeing your art (visual, performance, whatever). We will publish your statement in print and online, in a new upcoming and recurring column.
Here are the guidelines:
- We will edit your stuff for clarity, grammar, etc., if necessary.
- Don’t go above the word limit.
- Don’t go above our heads — think of this like you’re convincing art people and non-art people alike to check out something interesting. Keep it simple and succinct, descriptive without rambling, get to the point and maybe make us laugh. Stay away from highfalutin “artspeak.” (You know what we mean).
- If we’ve already written about you in some way, that doesn’t mean you can’t submit something. Just tell us when we did, or link to a mention on our site.
- Submit a photo of your work, if you can — as high-res a .jpg as you can get, please. Credit the proper people if someone photographed your work.
- Direct us to a website where we can see your stuff, your Twitter, etc.
Email statements, links and photos to arts editor Mikala Jamison at mikala@citypaper.net with the subject Why You Should Care About My Art.
