My friend and colleague, Doug McLennan, is celebrating the seventh anniversary of ArtsJournal.com today. In a move I’ve come to expect from him, he’s celebrating that milestone by reaching even farther and working even more. Beyond his daily filtering of hundreds of articles on arts and culture, he’s now writing his own blog, Diacritical.
In my own work, I’ve found that the individuals most able to spot trends and make visionary connections are those with two qualities: a voracious curiosity and a disciplined but malleable mind. Doug has shown both of these qualities in spades through his thorough and insightful work on ArtsJournal. I’m thrilled beyond measure that he’s now sharing his insights with a wider world. Says Doug:
We have traditionally depended on critics to define their territory, walk the perimeter and report back about what’s new, what’s interesting and how they connect. As the amount of culture we have access to becomes ever more overwhelming we’re going to need people to help us make sense of it. There are some awfully smart people out there trying to do exactly that. One thing I hope to do with this blog is to point you in the direction of some of them.
Congratulations, Doug, on the transformative force you’ve constructed through ArtsJournal. And best of luck on your new blog. Rest assured, you’re at the top of my feed list.