Please help us bring the arts and culture community roaring back to life by supporting this magazine and its independent coverage.

The past year posed an unprecedented challenge for arts and cultural journalism. Other outlets pruned their already thinning coverage. This despite the fact that — because of the persistent effects of COVID-19 — arts and culture needed more media attention than ever before. The Arts Fuse heeded the call and then some: we posted over a 1000 book, theater, film, visual arts, and television critiques, along with articles on jazz, dance, and music. The result? Drop-the-mic proof that there is a hunger for serious writing about the arts. Our readership exploded: over a million visitors perused our provocative pages. And we heard from many artists and cultural institutions who were deeply grateful for the dependability and excellence of our coverage during these trying times for the arts. There is an appetite for what The Arts Fuse does so well — please help sustain this distinctive publication.

The arts are struggling to come back from COVID-19, and the magazine is eager do even more to help the arts and culture community return to robust health. And to keep on raising the bar for quality writing about the arts. Our critics will continue to build on our archive of over 7,000 reviews, commentaries, and features on arts and culture written by over 60 writers, ranging from veteran critics from the Boston Globe and Boston Phoenix to talented fledgling reviewers.

The arts and culture community appreciates what we are doing. Here is what they are saying:

“The Arts Fuse fills a vital need in the Boston arts criticism community. The writers provide timely and thoughtful features and reviews which spark conversation and inform the public about happenings in Boston and beyond” — The Boston Camerata and Anne Azéma

“The Arts Fuse is an invaluable part of Boston’s arts ecosystem. The depth and breadth of coverage set them apart from their peers in arts criticism. More than once, in recent years, they have been the only outlet covering artists and performances of international relevance.” — Jack Wright, The Celebrity Series

Wear Your Love of Arts Coverage Proudly!

Those who contribute $100 or more will receive an Arts Fuse T-shirt. The magazine’s motto is emblazoned on the back: “Use the point of your pen, not the feather.” When you contribute, please send in your size request — S, M, L, XL — and where you want the shirt sent.

Among the highlights of the past year

*An improved Arts Fuse podcast led by host Elizabeth Howard.

*Multiple articles picked up by aggregator Arts Journal, including my commentary wondering why arts critics are disengaged from reality and Franklin Einspruch’s challenge to Boston’s MFA via his review of the Philip Guston exhibition.

* Featured dozens of high-quality arts reviews and features. There are few publications that do what we do. And we are going to do more.

Future Plans:

*Create programs to train critics of color.

*Build on our series of public discussions about the future of arts criticism via online gatherings.

*Provide video reviews and interviews with artists

“Art lives upon discussion, upon experiment, upon curiosity, upon variety of attempt, upon the exchange of views and the comparison of standpoints.” — Henry James

Please help us do our part so we can continue to publish coverage critical to the future of the arts, to provide reviews and features that support artists and show a way forward. The magazine plays an important role in keeping the creative imagination vibrant. I am therefore asking you to donate to the cause. This annual appeal, which marks the magazine’s 15th birthday, must succeed so that the great reviews, commentaries, podcast episodes, interviews, and features will continue. These are treacherous times for small independent journalism sites — few make it into double digits. Help the magazine thrive.

Here’s to helping to support the arts as they come back, stronger than ever — through engagement, appreciation, and lively discussion.

Bill Marx is the editor-in-chief of The Arts Fuse. For four 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.