Art Papers magazine, the longest-running nonprofit art publication in the United States, is closing after 50 years. The Atlanta community that built it will gather one last time on April 12.
Founded in 1976 by Atlanta artists as the Atlanta Art Workers Coalition, Art Papers started as a two-page printed newsletter. By 1991, it had grown into a national art journal with readers in more than 35 countries.
The farewell event runs 1 to 4 p.m. at Whitespace Gallery. At 4 p.m., the Seed & Feed Marching Abominable Band leads a Second Line procession from Whitespace to the Art Papers office at the Little 5 Points Community Art Center.
"Many of the arts leaders in Atlanta interned, worked for, wrote for, or served on the board of Art Papers," said executive director Sarah Higgins. "We're in the DNA of Atlanta's visual arts community. Art Papers was shaped by the people in this community, and it has shaped the community in return."
The publication leaves behind a half-century archive of Southern contemporary art criticism and community journalism.