This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Aug. 14, 2013 - So much opportunity, so few jobs. St. Louis has a vibrant visual art scene, with freelancers and other reporters devoting part of their attention to art exhibitions but no dedicated critic.
The lack of an art critic was the subject of a roundtable about art criticism in St. Louis in which I participated Saturday at Fort Gondo compound for the arts on Cherokee Street.
Fort Gondo director Jessica Baran, who, until recently, worked as a freelance art reviewer for the Riverfront Times, issued a challenge in her recent article, “Flyover This”: Why not pool resources and endow a local art critic position? Here’s what she and other panelists said Saturday about the importance of art criticism.
- If they don't like you, at least they’re talking about you, according to P-D arts writer Calvin Wilson: “It’s not about getting a good review or a bad review. It’s about getting a review, period.”
- It helps complete the three-legged stool of a successful arts community: artists, art writers, and curators, according to Baran. In a post-event email, she elaborated: “I love that we now have more support for artists (via RAC's new grant initiatives), but I don't feel that their own work can flourish as it should without equally necessary support for critics and curators.”
- Experts aren’t the only valuable critics, according to James McAnally of the Luminary Center for the Arts: In a follow-up email, McAnally explained, “artists, galleries, curators and the public each benefit when as many individuals as possible choose to engage art in a thoughtful, public form ... The most prominent art critic in the country, Jerry Saltz, was a truck driver for years before becoming a critic.”
This coming Saturday, Aug. 17, a related Fort Gondo event will teach participants the ins and outs of reviewing an art exhibition.
