Heads up, Seattle — there’s a new arts publication in town, and copies of the first issue are just about finished hitting your favorite cafes, restaurants and retailers.
The inaugural edition of PublicDisplay.ART, or the “tabloid,” as Seattle-area publishing veteran Marty Griswold describes the project, spotlights 10 visual artists across 24 pages of a free, physical publication and an accompanying digital website. The operation is stewarded by the nonprofit organization One Reel, former longtime producer of Bumbershoot and where Griswold serves as executive director. It is distributed by the Northwest Polite Society, a Seattle-based marketing company that says 15,000 copies are scheduled to circulate throughout the city.
Slated to publish quarterly, the magazine arrives at a time other print publications focusing on the arts have ceased or cut back. PublicDisplay.ART “is very much an homage to The Stranger, City Arts, The Weekly,” Griswold said. “It killed me when City Arts closed down. Print media is just getting harder and harder to do — especially when your business is based on ads. We’re not dependent on ads. We’re funding this through grants and private donations.”
Funding for the inaugural edition pools private donations, a cut of One Reel’s operational budget and $8,700 of a larger Civic Partners grant awarded to the nonprofit this year by the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture. The publication’s distribution partner also provided in-kind contributions, slashing its service charges in half.
Erika Lindsay, the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture’s communications manager, said the project is not a direct program of the city. “We are excited for this new endeavor,” Lindsay said. “We are grateful that our funding can help boost artists in Seattle.”
Read the full article on The Seattle Times.