Artnews (list serve)
A free and uncensored and unmoderated list serve based in Atlanta, Georgia, US. Maintained by Public Domain, Inc., a "501(c)3 nonprofit organization committed to exploring The Intersection of art, theory, technology and community."1
Purpose
ARTNEWS is intended as a forum for announcements and discussions of interest to the Atlanta arts community. Appropriate listings include gallery openings, notices regarding organizational and special events, and opportunities for arts activism. Additional postings might include any items considered of general interest to the arts community.2
Significance
The significance of this online entity stems from the context in which it has been derived. Like many post-tech-boom metro areas, Atlanta has experienced exponential growth, yet struggles intensely with arts and cultural growth and development. Serious criticism and/or thought in the arts is often meager and diluted, or marginalized, or coming from suspect sources. In another similarity with other contemporary cities, this void has been responded to by the community itself, via blogs and items such as this listserve, casting ARTNEWS in a very similar light to Wikipedia.org. One distinction is that the list serve is a subscription-based item that comes to the viewer, as opposed to being a site in which the viewer must virtually travel to in order to participate. However, they both share in the phenomena of a community utilizing virtual space to respond to needs within the community.
Personalities of ARTNEWS
The ARTNEWS list has grown from a grass-roots reaction toward arts-based community issues into a rather open-ended outlet for any arts-inclined individual. Participants include all levels of the community, from executives of Arts non-profits and professional organizations to individual artists and performers, to CASUAL observers.
Among this eclectic group are a self-described cast of characters that includes:
Robert Cheatham = "Chief Readings Sleuth"3, "indefatigable fact-and-theory searcher"4, Executive Director of Eyedrum Art & Music Gallery5
Eggtooth aka Jeff Dahlgren = stream of consciousness writings that frequently include negative references to ARTNEWS subscribers
Peggy Dobbins = Performance artist, long-time civil and human rights activist
Allison Rentz = Performance artist, "Dictator" of the ARTNEWS virtual reality
Karen Tauches = Freelance graphic designer, artist, activist, New Age provocateur
Ernesto Cuevas Jr. = Artist, activist
Cinqué Hicks = Online arts and culture demi-god 6
Jim Demmers = Scholar, Technician, Performer, also an F3 core team member
Tom Zarilli = Artist, Local cultural underground icon, yard sale addict
Jason Johnson = Artist, former pillar of outrage, occasional contributor
Mandie Turner Mitchell = Artist...
Christopher Boehm = Artist
Brian Treadwell = Brian Treadwell
References
http://www.pd.org/
http://www.pd.org/~chea/HTML/artnews.html
Puttgen, Julie "Review: 2005 Atlanta Biennial"[http://www.ratsaladeluxe.com/ratsaladsite/julie2005.htm]Ratsalad Deluxe, May 23, 2005.
http://joculum.livejournal.com/46272.html
http://www.artsinatlanta.org/newartists