For January, the first month of 2019, Live Culture offers a discussion with Lucy Gellman and Brian Slattery, two Journalists who cover the arts, to discuss their insights on writing about art and culture in an increasingly fraught moment for News Publications, artistic ventures and venues.

Lucy Gellman is the Editor of The Arts Paper, a venerable publication produced by The Arts Council of Greater New Haven which she has dynamically transformed into it's new, lively digital iteration. According to it’s website The Arts Paper "seeks to explore, investigate, and invest in the arts that make our cities the cultural hubs they are.“ More about the Arts Paper HERE

Brian Slattery writes for the on-line daily The New Haven Independent. Operating with the credo “It’s Your Town. Read All About It.” The New Haven Independent is produced in conjunction with the Online Journalism Project, a not-for-profit effort to promote professional-quality stand-alone and hyperlocal news sites on the Internet. More about the The New Haven Independent HERE

The chat, which occurred in December in a bustling New Haven coffee shop, offers a behind-the-scenes peek at the mechanics of art reviews, contemporary local reporting, and the role of the critic in the art world today. With the institutions of brick-and-mortar galleries, newspapers and magazines all dwindling in numbers, those remaining have new and increased pressures placed upon them. Both Lucy and Brian are dedicated arts community supporters, aware of the importance and impact of journalism to the health of a thriving culture. We discuss the perils, pitfalls and joys of such a mission, and how the two cover and reflect on the myriad cultural goings-on about town.

About Lucy Gellman:
Lucy is a lapsed art historian who loves wordplay almost as much as community building. Prior to her time at The Arts Paper she was a reporter at the New Haven Independent and station manager at WNHH Community Radio, where she still produces and hosts Kitchen Sync, a show about food and New Haven.

About Brian Slattery:
Brian works for The New Haven Independent where he writes and edits arts stories and some news stories. He is also one of the editors of the New Haven Review and has done work for DataHaven, a regional public policy thinktank. Previously, Brian worked for a variety of public policy organizations and academic presses, among them the U.S. Institute of Peace, the Peterson Institute for International Economics, and Columbia University Press. While getting a masters degree in public policy from Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs, he was senior editor of its Journal of International Affairs. Additionally Brian is a practicing musician who plays in several bands, as well as being a published author of several works of fiction.