October Issue 2010
Commentary
by Tom Starland

We Have A New Blog

We have launched a new blog site called Carolina Arts News to handle late-breaking news, news that came after our deadline, and news we thought you needed to know ASAP. You can find this new blog on the front page of Carolina Arts Online and among the links on Carolina Arts Unleashed or at the link (www.carolinaartsnews.wordpress.com).

Why did we need another blog? Well, quoting the old phrase - out of sight, out of mind, readers of Carolina Arts Unleashed were complaining that too many press releases were pushing the commentary I offered about issues taking place in the Carolina visual art community - way down the blog page - out of sight.

We started adding these press releases to the blog to give these items exposure and like all things, before you knew it - it got out of hand. We want you to know all we know, so it just seemed logical to create a new blog just for these items. So, Carolina Arts News is another place to find out what going on.

Just to let you know, we are also working on a new page on our website, Carolina Arts Online, which will focus on the Carolina clay community. If you're a regular reader of Carolina Arts Unleashed you have noticed that I post a lot of articles about pottery exhibits and events taking place around the Carolinas. We feel these items deserve a place of their own too and hope to soon be launching the Carolina Clay Resource Directory.

That's what we do - we're in the information business. Presenters of exhibits and events feed us the info and we process it and offer it to you - as a more informed reader is a better supporter of the arts. And who doesn't need more support these days.

Can You Feel The Weather Changing?

It might be subtle in some places in the Carolinas but the weather is starting to look a lot like - dare I say it - Fall in the South. Those endless 95 + degree days may be behind us! At least let's hope so.

Artists Want More Exhibit Opportunities

For the last two years Elder Gallery in Charlotte, NC, has joined forces with the Edens & Avant, owners of the Atherton Mill in Charlotte's SouthEnd to offer the juried exhibition, Carolina's Got Art!. This show, open to visual artists in both North and South Carolina, is juried by a major art critic from New York City. The first year's show attracted over 1,100 entries, which would seem hard to top, but this year 1,800 entries were submitted. (It should be noted that entries were done electronically.)

It would seem very clear to me that visual artists in the Carolinas are very interested in more juried shows, judged by top art critics, but the message doesn't seem to register with state art agencies and major art museums in the Carolinas. A long time ago this used to be the norm. There would be a major statewide juried exhibit presented by major art facilities and then the powers that be decided this was not the thing to do.

A couple of years ago the SC State Museum offered a major statewide juried show which attracted over 1,000 entries. For artists in SC the show was a big hit, but the Museum received criticism from the elite. But, the numbers show - this is what artists want - more opportunities.

I've heard critics of juried shows say they have no focus, no meaning - they're just too eclectic. Well, fix that, don't kill the concept. Every idea can be improved, if you work at it. You say you know better - show us for once.

Carolina Arts is published monthly by Shoestring Publishing Company, a subsidiary of PSMG, Inc. Copyright© 2010 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© 2010 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.