Editor's Letter
Who would have predicted that in just one year ArtVoices would be nationwide? Created by artists in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in an effort to catalyze and catalogue the burgeoning and increasingly impressive New Orelans arts community, we are taking our vision and our voice to new heights.
That original mission—to give voice to New Orleans art and artists—immediately expanded, encompassing contemporary art from across the nation. The desire for acceptance from a hopelessly tradition-bound art world and its tedious trappings of pedigree and empty rhetoric has been entirely rejected. We—ArtVoices—and you—the reader—are, to put it simply, taking over.
If you are just joining us, I'd like to provide an introduction. Katrina obviously shook every institution and community in New Orleans and the Gulf South to its foundation—ArtVoices was started as a means to establish a network connective tissue to help rebuild our arts community better, stronger and tighter-knit than before. We have been and still are dedicated to challenging artists, not just in New Orleans but around the workd, to engage in enriching and empowering dialogue.
We reject the dog-and-pony show critical agenda of contemporary art criticism in favor of an aggressive approach to nurturing and facilitating innovators and visionaries. There are great artists doing great work who live in cities perhaps not yet on your radar. That is going to change.
We are taking our future into our own hands. Novelty gives way to substance, trite commentary to striking social documentary. Reading ArtVoices, you are not going to be mislead and the truth is not going to be sugar-coated. We have an agenda, yes, but it doesn't go beyond getting the art to where you can see it and engage in the dialogue we create.
I am so proud of all the artists who keep creating in hostile environments, without opportunity for exhibition and recognition or patronage. Thank you for speaking up, thank you for capturing our era, our times, thank you for making your work accessible to those who normally wouldn't be able to see it in a gallery or museum, thank you for not being afraid, thank you for welcoming change and being part of the new world we are forging with each passing day. Thank you for walking with us through the fire of our collective dreams.
Best Regards,
Terrence Sanders, Editor & Publisher
