CultureGrrl Curriculum: The Blog Slogger Talks to NEA Visual Arts Journalism Fellows

Jack Rasmussen, director, American University Museum

What do I know about visual arts journalism?

Someone thinks I know something, because tomorrow I'll be addressing the American and foreign journalists who were selected to be the inaugural fellows in the NEA International Arts Journalism Institute in Visual Arts, sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. State Department. The director of the 17-day program is Jack Rasmussen, director and curator of the American University Museum.

I'll be discussing (with the aid of an irreverent PowerPoint photo essay) the joys and pitfalls of being CultureGrrl.

The chief joys are having a ready outlet for a lifetime of knowledge, expertise and strong opinions, and discovering that arts professionals for whom I have great respect actually care about what I have to say.

The pitfalls? Blogger addiction, financial subtraction.

The panel on which I'm participating is titled: "Opportunities for Publication." I hope they also offer one on "Opportunities for Remuneration." If I figure out a viable business model for art blogging between now and tomorrow, I'll gladly let them know.

Speaking of which, many thanks to CultureGrrl Donors 45 and 46, from Arkansas and Massachusetts. I was particularly moved by the fact that one of them is a journalistic colleague whose work I have admired. As I will tell my listeners tomorrow, the irony of my appearing before them as a "mentor" is that any of them with a full-time (or even part-time) job is probably better paid for his or her journalistic endeavors than I am.