The singular large table inside our office functions a lot like the kitchen table of a busy home. We co-work around it, eat lunch, package shipments, spread out proofs, and even hold our board meetings there. A few weeks ago, we were crowded around it for a brainstorming meeting for our Un-monument editorial project. Though not a particularly unique meeting, I looked around and realized we really need a bigger table. Boston Art Review started as a living room project that migrated across coffee shops. When we landed our office at the Boston Center for the Arts over five years ago and inherited this table from the previous tenant, artist Jim Cambronne, I never imagined we would one day outgrow a table with room for eight.
That feeling of growing into something, and occasionally outgrowing things along the way, has come up a lot this summer. The Civic Culture Desk has taken Kim Córdova’s reporting from Boston to DC, Montreal, and Boulder. Just last week, we released the fourth edition of the Boston Art Radar map, now documenting more than 200 cultural spaces across Greater Boston. Earlier this week, we sent our largest Weekly Happenings email to date. And this November, we’ll co-present the Boston Art Book Fair, our largest event partnership yet.
In July, I joined colleagues from peer publications at a convening hosted by Momus in Montreal. We talked a lot about the bigger changes happening across our field and the gaps smaller publications like ours are being asked to fill as larger publications disappear or shift their cultural coverage. Local publishing is part of the infrastructure that supports the creative work happening around us. We’re documenting what’s happening, developing writers, connecting audiences, and preserving a cultural record all while there are fewer resources available to support that work.
This fall, three longtime BAR team members are stepping into expanded roles. Jessica Shearer joins us as editorial director, Camila Bohan Insaurralde is now our full-time programs & partnerships manager, and Ava Mancing is broadening her role as editorial production manager. We’re also welcoming Tycho Horan into a newly developed operations manager role. On our editorial team, Alisa Prince steps into a senior editorial role and Ramona Ngin and Morgan Ridgway join us as contributing editors. More on all of these exciting new roles below.
For years, growth at BAR has meant finding ways to do more with what we have: commissioning more writers and artists, publishing more ambitious work, and creating new resources for our community. After a few seasons of rapid programmatic growth, we’ve learned that growing sustainably also means investing in the people and infrastructure behind that work. So while there’s no new table yet, we’ve certainly pulled up a few more chairs.
There’s a lot more below about what we’ve been up to and what’s ahead this fall. I hope you’ll read along, come see us in person, and support the work if you can.
