You don’t have to take my word for it

(If you’re Gen X or elder millenial, do you remember where this title comes from? 🌈)

Like anyone, I love it when I’m right. (Though I try to be self-aware enough to know when I might be wrong.)

Here are three folks from my social media feed that support some of my most recent takes.

First up, Seema R is a former museum professional and educator that uses her platform to education about art history and visual literacy – and smacking down specious arguments and lazy thinking. (I would never disagree with her publicly – or privately for that matter – for fear of the smackdown…and I would probably be wrong anyway. She’s as cutting and as well informed about art as Miranda Priestly is about fashion.)

Even so, Seema is incredibly generous with her knowledge and I have learned a lot from her. One of her latest posts was about how behind the curve museums are with their social media, and how most of the good content about museums comes from its users rather than the institution itself. Seema lays blame for this deficiency at the feet of cautious or out of touch leadership, praising digital teams whose hands are tied.

I’ve made this point about social media several times and several different ways – scroll back through this blog or my ArtsJournal blog, Row X. Here’s Seema R:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Seema R (@art_lust_)

Next is Andrew Patino, a young theater producer and theater marketing professional in New York City. Andrew just put out an offer to help other theaters with producing and marketing, so questions are flooding in and he’s making some great videos in response. Here he talks about what kind of content to make: behind the scenes, personality driven content, and start distributing it as soon as you announce your show. Here’s Andrew Patino:

@andrewpatino

Replying to @k4baya let’s ask a different question first!

♬ original sound – Andrew Patino

Finally, on the topic of criticism and arts media, which I wrote about on my blog Row X last month. The main message was that I encouraged artists to come out of mourning for the decline in criticism and media coverage and embrace marketing themselves, but at the end I pointed out that there are also no gatekeepers for critics and people who wanted to spread the word about the arts. Here’s an example of that, two writers, Sarah and Alexandra (I couldn’t easily find their full names) have social media accounts called @exhibitsinnewyork on Tiktok, Instagram, and a Substack that they’re going to turn into an app to share listings and criticism. Here’s one of the writers breaking down their view on criticism.

@exhibitsinnewyork

Replying to @dest1ny420 Some thoughts on art writers, including Doreen St. Felix at the New Yorker, art website 4Columns, and the relative newcomer Adlan Jackson at Hell Gate. Plus some info about why we’re trying to make a place for exhibit reviews in New York. Exhibit reviews seen include Lorna Simpson: Source Notes at the Met (open through November 30) and Toyin Ojih Odutola at Jack Shainman (now closed). Mentioned essay is paywalled but it’s Sean Monahan “why there are no famous artists” at his newsletter, 8ball #museum #artwriting #nycart #arteducation #art #artmuseum #artexhibitions #nycmuseums

♬ original sound – sarah

Hopefully these voices and others will start to give people in the arts confidence to adjust to the current media landscape and see the possibilities for engagement and the cautiousness and hesitancy in arts institutions will fade away.