“Art and culture also have a serious economic impact on this city. According to the most recent Otis Report on the Creative Economy, one in eight regional jobs in L.A. and Orange County are generated by the creative industry, which has a total economic output of over $230 billion annually.”
The LA Times recently laid of its arts and architecture critic Jori Finkel. In response, area art museums signed a letter asking the paper to re-instate her position, because her coverage is critical to the life of their organizations. I am so happy that the museums stood behind Finkel, and I hope the LA Times, and other newspapers will reconsider future decisions like this one. Critics are so important because they make people aware of what’s happening in their communities, provide context to arts events, expose audiences to new artists and art forms, and most importantly they elevate the taste level.
In our social media driven world, everyone is a critic, but everyone is not a good critic. Criticism, especially arts criticism, is a muscle that is strengthened by exposure to more and more art. The more you are exposed to, the more your taste evolves. The more your taste evolves the higher your standards get. What social media allows people to do is critique the art they choose to consume in a thumbs up/thumbs down sort of way. Arts critics have to cover everything, whether it fits their aesthetics or not. Arts critics have the strongest muscles. I hope the LA Times reconsiders this decision. I’ll be following this story.
