The Cure for Poor Circulation?
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
The New Art Examiner is a not-for-profit organization–a full third of this year’s $300,000 budget came from contributions (the rest was from earned income). While the publication has had more than its share of troubled times, Samuelson says the future looks bright. Last month he found out the National Endowment for the Arts will award the magazine the largest grant it’s ever received to support its art reviews section, and paid subscriptions have climbed to 3,000 this year, up nearly 30 percent from 2,100 three years ago (this is, however, down from 4,500 in 1992). Its total circulation is 6,265. Ad pages are also up 30 percent over last year.
Though the New Art Examiner’s readership is small, Samuelson says he and editor Kathryn Hixson believe the magazine speaks to the mainstream, striving, in his words, “to demystify art.” He has hopes of adding 1,000 new subscribers a year over the next several years by tapping into areas where the magazine has not been aggressively marketed. “We’re focusing on midwestern states like Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana, but we’re also interested in the Pacific Northwest.”
Music and Dance Theatre
