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

The past year posed an unprecedented challenge for the arts and cultural journalism. The Arts Fuse upped its game and posted more pieces than ever, from book, theater, film, and television reviews to articles on streaming music, dance, and music events. In addition, we commissioned commentaries, podcast discussions, and interviews that explored solutions to the crisis. The magazine also underwrote an online production of Anthony Clarvoe’s 1993 drama about the Black Plague, The Living, which was a benefit for the Theatre Community Benevolent Fund, Boston.

The result: an increasing number of readers came to the site to learn about what is happening in the arts, and we heard from many artists and cultural institutions who were deeply grateful for the dependability and excellence of our coverage during a perilous time.

Now that the arts are struggling to come back from COVID-19, the magazine is eager do even more to help the arts and culture community return to robust health. Our critics will continue to build on our archive of over 6,000 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.

But to aid the arts as they struggle to return, we need your support to sustain the magazine’s independent coverage.

Great News! The Arts Fuse has received a generous donation from an anonymous donor who has requested the gift be matched 1:1 up to $2,000!!! All gifts made to the Spring Appeal by June 14 will be doubled!! Help us take advantage of this wonderful opportunity by making a donation, of any size.

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 $75 or more to the Spring Appeal will receive an Arts Fuse T-shirt. The magazine’s motto is emblazoned on the back: “Write with 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 a new host, Elizabeth Howard.

*Online production of Anthony Clarvoe’s 1993 drama about the Black Plague, The Living.

* 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.

*Establish The Arts Fuse Annex, a place where the magazine’s contributors can serve up fiction, nonfiction, and plays. This material will be available through paid subscription only. There are plans for music performances as well.

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

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

The arts community is beginning to rebuild. 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. Our goal is to raise $10,000. This annual appeal, which marks the magazine’s 14th birthday, must succeed so that the great reviews, commentaries, podcast episodes, and features will continue. These are treacherous times for small independent journalism sites — few make it into double digits. Help the magazine thrive.

Please click on one of the donation buttons below (secure sites Facebook, PayPal, and Mightycause). Your contribution is tax deducible. Any donations of $500 or above will be listed (with permission) on the Infuser page of the magazine. It will be our way of thanking you — and making your interest in a meaningful conversation about the arts public.

Here’s to a summer dedicated to supporting the arts as they come back, stronger than ever — through engagement, appreciation, and lively discussion.

To contribute to The Arts Fuse via Facebook

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PayPal

To contribute to The Arts Fuse via Mightycause

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

Please include your email and snail mail address with your check.

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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.