Syracuse University’s Goldring Arts Journalism Program to host national symposium on “Writing About the Arts: The Critics, Craft & Education”

Syracuse University’s Goldring Arts Journalism Program to host national symposium on”Writing About the Arts: The Critics, Craft & Education”November 08, 2004Amy Schmitzaemehrin@syr.edu

Syracuse University’s Goldring Arts Journalism Program will convene for a practical debate and discussion bringing together leading arts media, artists, arts leaders and arts educators for its first sponsored national symposium, titled “Writing About the Arts: The Critics, Craft and Education.” The two-day conference will be held Nov. 19-20, 2005 on the SU campus.

“Given the current marketplace, a frank and honest debate and assessment regarding the relevance, frequency and contemporary readership of arts journalism today will be focal point during this two-day event,” says Goldring Program Director Johanna Keller, assistant professor in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.

On Nov. 19 at 8 p.m., Dana Gioia, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, will give the keynote address, followed by a performance by the Cassatt String Quartet and a dessert buffet. The event will take place in the Rose and Jules R. Setnor Auditorium, located in Crouse College. It is free and open to the public.

Nov. 20 from 9 a.m.-4 p.m., symposium panels will discuss practical matters facing arts journalists and editors throughout the United States and bring together leaders in the arts and arts media. The panels will take place in Room 254 of Newhouse II and are free and open to the public; pre-registration is recommended because space is limited.

More than two dozen speakers will participate in the symposium, including nationally known journalists, academics, artists, arts administrators, and arts writers and editors from Central New York. Among the speakers are John Rockwell, critic for The New York Times; Michael Barnes, critic and arts editor for the Austin American-Statesman; Sandra Trop, director of the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse; Patrick J. O’Connor, founding director of The Red House; Mike Johansson, editor of “Insider” at the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle; Tasneem Grace Tewogbola, staff writer for the Syracuse Post-Standard; and SU Chancellor Nancy Cantor. Panels include: “Cross Disciplinary Critics: Breadth, Depth & Diversity?”; “Does Arts Criticism Matter?”; and “New Generation Readers: Tabloids and Other Tales.”

In addition, four breakout sessions will focus on narrowly focused topics. “Reporting the Arts: A Presentation” will be led by Andras Szanto, director of the National Arts Journalism Program at Columbia University, who will talk about the findings of his five-year update study on arts coverage in major markets throughout the United States. Other sessions will include speakers on arts education and on leading arts organizations in challenging times; and on the new Goldring Program, whose aim is to educate the next generation of arts journalists by deepening their knowledge of a specific art form and enabling them to build excellent writing and journalism skills.

The Goldring Arts Journalism program and the national symposium is made possible by a generous gift from SU trustee and arts patron Lola Goldring and her husband Allen. Additional support for the national symposium was provided by the Gifford Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.

For more information, visit http://artsjournalism.syr.edu. To register for the symposium, email migriffi@syr.edu. Please include “Goldring Symposium” in the subject line.