Douglas McLennan is the founder and editor of ArtsJournal, the pioneering online hub for news, ideas, and conversations shaping the arts, culture, and media. Since its launch in 1999, ArtsJournal has become one of the most influential aggregators and curators of cultural thought, connecting readers across disciplines to explore how creativity, institutions, technology, and society interact.
He is also co-founder and editor of Post Alley, a Seattle-based writers’ collective and experiment in civic journalism that brings together independent voices to analyze politics, culture, and civic life. Both ventures reflect McLennan’s belief in decentralized, pluralist media—where thoughtful curation, dialogue, and experimentation illuminate how systems of culture and community evolve.
Trained originally as a pianist, with a master’s degree in music from the Juilliard School, McLennan began his career in the performing arts before turning to cultural journalism and criticism. His musical career included a year as artist-in-residence at the Central Conservatory in Beijing. He was named one of 100 Outstanding Graduates of the Juilliard School for the school’s centennial. He served as juror for the Pulitzer Prize in the category of criticism; and as press jury chairman for the Van Cliburn International Competition for Outstanding Amateurs in Fort Worth, Texas. His early experience as a musician continues to inform his work—grounding his analyses of artistic systems in firsthand understanding of creative practice and the lived experience of artists.
A former music critic and arts journalist, McLennan was arts columnist and music critic for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, and has written for The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, and numerous other publications. His writing and talks often explore the transformation of creative work in the digital era—the shifting boundaries between art and technology, the changing economics of culture, and the systemic forces redefining creativity and public value.
As a consultant, McLennan works with cultural organizations across North America and internationally, helping them navigate digital transformation, audience engagement, and strategic adaptation. His clients have included opera companies, orchestras, museums, and foundations developing new business models, partnerships, and innovation frameworks. He was a visiting professor at Claremont Graduate University in the MBA arts management program and taught for eight years in the arts journalism program at the Annenberg School for Communications and Journalism at the University of Southern California. He was part of the producing team for the Spring For Music orchestra festival at Carnegie Hall, and ran digital programs, audience engagement and strategy at the Ojai Music Festival. He has led workshops and spoken at conferences throughout Europe, Asia, and the Americas, advising leaders on how technology and imagination can drive cultural resilience.
Through his long-running blog Diacritical, McLennan examines the deeper implications of technological change: how digital tools alter artistry, authorship, and meaning; how institutions adapt; and how new systems of value emerge around creative work. His enduring project is to understand how culture organizes itself in a time of accelerating change—and how artists, thinkers, and institutions can shape a more creative and connected public life.
You can contact him at mclennan@artsjournal.com