Concerts happen. Plays happen. Gallery exhibitions happen. Poetry slams happen.
These events matter. Someone should review them.
That’s the philosophy behind Midbrow, a project of the nonprofit Online Journalism Project.
The art of in-person, honest, independent, smart and fearless reviewing seems to be dying. Local arts scenes are thriving in cities of all sizes. Yet rarely do local arts events get reviewed.
Midbrow aims to seed a network of writers in cities across the country to review in-person local cultural events.
These live events matter because they tap into the soul of a community, bringing people together from different backgrounds, sharing dreams and memories, joy and heartache and perspectives, in the quest for common purpose and meaning. Writing about them matters because it gives people a fuller portrait of the place they live in. The life of a city is about public policy debates, schools, crime, and housing. But it’s also about the outdoor show that made people dance into the night, or the discussion after a book reading where people felt freer to speak their minds, or the art exhibition that let everyone see the place they live through another’s eyes. Documenting that for everyone to read gives us all a chance for a deeper understanding of where we live, and a clearer articulation of a vision for the future.
And AI will never write or edit our reviews. Humans write and edit our reviews.
We’d like to help start the process of reviving and reimagining local reviews. Please let us know what you think!
Publisher: Paul Bass
Tulsa bureau chief: Alicia Chesser
Philadelphia bureau chief: Nora Grace-Flood
Gwangju bureau chief: Jisu Sheen
Hartford bureau chief: Jamil Ragland
Detroit bureau: Lee DeVito
Readership: Stacey Peters
Click here to read archived reviews from Oakland, here to read archived reviews from Baton Rouge.
More about the Midbrow:
• A new national network of arts and culture reviewers (What Works)
• LoveBabz LoveTalk with Babz Rawls-Ivy: Independent Review Crew (WNHH FM)
• Greater Boston arts and local news get a boost from three new nonprofit projects (Media Nation)
• New Haven, New Confidence (Tulsa Lines)
Publishing Partners
The Pickup (Tulsa)
New Haven Independent