The media make a potentially fatal mistake by dividing arts coverage into high and low, old and young, and by trivializing our passionate attraction to things. In Out There I propose that all creative expression has the potential to be both thought-provoking and popular; to write about flea markets as if they were museums (and vice versa); to celebrate singers and chefs. A short example: … [Read more...]

Based in New York, I've been an editor of arts coverage at New York's Soho Weekly News (1977-79); of visual arts and architecture criticism and much else at the Village Voice (1981-95, with a stint as managing editor of Artforum); of the fine arts at the Philadelphia Inquirer (1997-2006); of arts and culture at Bloomberg News (2006-07). Until recently deputy director of the USC Annenberg/Getty Arts Journalism Program and associate director of the NEA Arts Journalism Institute of Theater amd Musical Theater (whew), I am also a writer.... … [Read more...]

On life-friendly Obit Mag, a piece about the 100th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. Also essays and slideshow-podcasts about the late, undervalued photographers Milton Rogovin, Larry Sultan and Helen Levitt (thanks to Daylight magazine). Here's a shoutout to the real Harvey Milk, just as that movie appeared. Click for information about my book Learning To Eat, and for a decent portion of a pushy little essay about "Gay Etiquette." … [Read more...]

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