Please take this opportunity to sustain the future of the arts in this country by strengthening a magazine that is making a real difference.
First off, I want to thank those who have supported the Arts Fuse. Without your help the magazine would not be approaching its 15th year, a rare milestone for an independent online publication dedicated to coverage of the arts.
The past year has been challenging for arts and culture and a parlous future lies ahead. Many publications are whittling down coverage of the arts, but the Arts Fuse has expanded rather than contracted its range. We never stopped featuring in-depth coverage of underappreciated artists and organizations, reviewing classical music, jazz, theater, visual arts, and dance performances. Over the past year we posted over 1,000 articles. The response has been gratifying: traffic and influence have grown enormously, proof that we are meeting an essential need. The Arts Fuse is currently shattering circulation records: the magazine is accumulating between 50-100K unique users per month. Standout pieces included: Noah Schaffer’s appreciation of the late Black gospel singer Lee Williams; Allen Michie’s series celebrating 1971, a great year in music; and my commentaries on the arts and climate change. Thanks so much for your help in getting us to this momentous place.
And your support has done more than gotten the word out about artists and performances. Publications such as the Arts Fuse are vital to the cultural ecology. Arts writers — veterans as well as newbies — are finding fewer opportunities to contribute to sites that pay for their work. There are fewer opportunities for critics to receive professional editing. We are facing a strange paradox: as we work our way out of the pandemic, more and more art is available. But there are fewer credible journalistic sites that encourage criticism, dialogue, and debate.
The Arts Fuse plays an invaluable role in helping arts and culture thrive. Arts criticism, commentary, and features articulate art’s value to society through advocacy, news, and discussion. The magazine has a superb new host, Elizabeth Howard, for its Short Fuse Podcast, which has broadened its reach over the past six months. And we continue to look for ways to train young arts critics through our mentorship program.
An increasing number of artists and organizations, large and small, have recognized that the magazine’s contributions are vital in maintaining the artistic landscape, in Boston and around the country. Many cultural organizations — from the large to the small — have told me and our writers that the Arts Fuse has become indispensable. But maintaining this level of excellence demands resources. It takes approximately $250 to create a Short Fuse podcast. The Arts Fuse burns through around $800 a week.
I am asking for your tax-deductible help in sustaining the Arts Fuse’s level of commitment to quality journalism, which is instrumental in nurturing the arts during these difficult times.
Your past support has taken us to our current heights. As the end of the year is upon us, please consider contributing to the Arts Fuse so that we can build on our success.
Any gifts of $500 and above will become part of our major giving program called “The Infusers.” These donors receive advance access to reviews and the opportunity to attend an event with a critic (when it is safe to do so). All donations are tax-deductible and can be made by choosing one of the options below. Please take this opportunity to sustain the future of the arts in this country by strengthening a magazine that is making a real difference.
With deep appreciation,
Bill Marx
Editor-in-chief, The Arts Fuse
To contribute to the Arts Fuse via PayPal:
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To mail a donation, please make out your check out to Global Narratives, Inc., and send it to:
The Arts Fuse
103 Highland Road
#2
Somerville, MA 02144
Include your email and snail mail address with your check.
The Arts Fuse is a project of Global Narratives, Inc., a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization based in Massachusetts.
Bill Marx is the editor-in-chief of the Arts Fuse. For over three decades, he has written about arts and culture for print, broadcast, and online. He has regularly reviewed theater for National Public Radio Station WBUR and the Boston Globe. He created and edited WBUR Online Arts, a cultural webzine that in 2004 won an Online Journalism Award for Specialty Journalism. In 2007 he created the Arts Fuse, an online magazine dedicated to covering arts and culture in Boston and throughout New England.
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