October Issue 2009
Commentary
by Tom Starland

Telegraph Messages From The Editor

Cover image by Brian Rutenberg looks great - stop - next month, back to black and white.

Advertising shortages makes it hard to deal with high demand for inclusion in paper - stop - it's time for non-advertisers to step up or be cut.

Lack of space for commentary leaves some wanting - stop - get your fill at Carolina Arts Unleashed blog and Carolina Arts Online website.

Some say the recession is over - stop - try telling that to the art community.

Enough With The Twitter

OK, enough messages from the front battle lines. As tough as it has been out here - it just seems to get tougher. What's an art newspaper publisher to do? I mean really - someone tell me. I heard that!

Well, they always say it gets darkest before the dawn so I guess we will have to endure this dark for a brighter future. But, frankly it's not really that dark out there - a lot is going on. We received a ton of press releases this month, but there was no way to fit them into the paper. Activity is not the problem - lack of paid advertising is a problem. We're able to continue as new advertisers step up and old friends stand by us. Thanks.

The Color Cover

We were lucky enough to bring back color to our cover - offering you a wonderful image by Brian Ruterberg who will have an exhibit of his works at the Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston, SC, later this month. (See Page 11 for article.) Rutenberg is our first repeat on the cover. If you missed his exhibit a few years ago at the SC State Museum - don't miss this one. Those who did see it will probably be first in line outside the Gibbes. If for some reason you can't get to the exhibit - well at least get your hands on Rutenberg's new major monograph, Brian Rutenberg: The Sensation of Place. If you do - you'll probably find a way to get to the exhibit.

Rutenberg is SC homegrown - from Myrtle Beach, SC, and attended the College of Charleston School of the Arts. Although he now lives and works in New York City - he still finds time to come back to his home state. He may be South Carolina's next Jasper Johns!

It just goes to show that any of the artists being presented in the exhibitions listed in the back of this paper could be tomorrow's next big sensation on the art scene. My advice is - buy now - they could be a lot more expensive to add to your collection later. I know I wish I had purchased that first Rutenberg I saw.

Website correction: As it turns out when Linda was proof reading this commentary she pointed out to me the Brian Ruterberg was not the first repeat on the cover and during our discussion to figure out how many times an individual artist has been featured on the cover - she forgot to change that line. Others have been on the cover twice. So that statement was not correct.

Carolina Arts is published monthly by Shoestring Publishing Company, a subsidiary of PSMG, Inc. Copyright© 2009 by PSMG, Inc., which published Charleston Arts from July 1987 - Dec. 1994 and South Carolina Arts from Jan. 1995 - Dec. 1996. It also publishes Carolina Arts Online, Copyright© 2009 by PSMG, Inc. All rights reserved by PSMG, Inc. or by the authors of articles. Reproduction or use without written permission is strictly prohibited. Carolina Arts is available throughout North & South Carolina.