By Thomas Hollingworth, Artlurker

On May 11th, Artlurker, a Miami based contemporary art blog, announced the winner of the Miami Writer’s Prize, an annual prize funded in part by the Knight Foundation and hosted on Artlurker. The prize stipulates that entrants submit one review of a recent art related event. The incentive is an eight hundred dollar stipend in return for eight ‘posts,’ texts that the winner writes for publication by Artlurker subsequent to their winning entry.

The Miami Writer’s Prize, the brainchild of Artlurker’s founding editor Thomas Hollingworth, is currently in its second year. As such, while it might be still be too early to measure the scope of the initiative, its intent is palpably grand. Ostensibly the aim is to encourage residents of Miami to think critically about art and to foster growth in the pool of critical writers in the South Florida community, but beyond that the prize is conceived as an edifying force, a means by which Artlurker’s role is transformed from that of an observer pandering to vicarious cultural tourists to an actual facilitator, engaging the community and home growing talent through a nurturing if not sometimes unconventional stretch of traditional roles.

“Editorials offer a viewpoint and similarly as an editor I strive to offer perspective. I am totally selftaught, in every aspect of my life, and I have also been fortunate to find myself on both sides of many coins – economically and specifically in the art world as both an artist and a dealer, and a prospective writer and an editor. As such I am not only in a position to help, but I want to because empathize with the struggle of becoming established and can appreciate the value of successful, engaged individuals. My website is there as a platform, for Miami and those from it who write, and I am there to do what I can to ensure the most effective, eloquent if appropriate, conveyance of meaning.” said Hollingworth in a recent conversation with himself.

In the three years that Artlurker has been active, it has garnered significant attention for its sharp wit and decisive tongue. And while other Miami blogs have waxed and waned, Artlurker has, with measured pace, staid the course. Unlike many online publications, Artlurker has never sought to make a profit; instead pouring what little money it has produced straight back into the creative engine in the form of hosting, consultation and the occasional stipend for special assignments. That said, Artlurker has never paid its writers – and they are many – anything like a dependable fee. Instead it has tried, rather successfully, to foster a sense of accountability within the SoFla community for discourse. In fact, winning the Miami Writer’s Prize is about the only chance anyone has of actually getting paid for writing for Artlurker, but as Hollingworth has said time and again “I am dying for people to write for Artlurker simply for the love of contributing to their community, but in spite of my best efforts, money seems to be a spectacular motivator. It really does talk. I just hope that funding lasts long enough for it to chew my ear off.”

With that in mind, the Miami Writer’s Prize, perhaps the most open palmed Machiavellian scheme Miami has seen in while, will continue to strive in the ever broadening niche carved for itself by Artlurker toward a hope that not only it’s winners will benefit from the experience and exposure that publishing their work online affords, but that others, through making the effort to submit to the prize, might learn the joy of engagement and become more active in their communities.

This year’s prize, judged by Miami based nomadic educational collaborative the end/SPRING BREAK and last year’s winner, Annie Hollingsworth was awarded to Melissa Diaz for her review of Mark Boulos’ lush and enthralling two channel video installation All That Is Solid Melts Into Air (2008) at Miami Art Museum. An intimate awards soiree was hosted in honor of Diaz at Lester’s on May 24th. Over the course of the next months Diaz will submit eight texts to Artlurker, some undoubtedly from a pre arranged trip to the Venice Biennale.

Rather than one voice screaming into the cracking void of the worldwide web in the vain hope of an imagined audience or polluting our shared cyber space with generic promotional copy, Artlurker has a varied cast of contributors all producing original work and conversations extend way beyond the screen to panel discussions and salon style discussions and theory nights. Similarly the Miami Writer’s Prize is effective in making connections between its entrants, its judges and the institutions they are affiliated with. Since winning last year’s prize judged by Gean Moreno, Rene Morales, Ruba Katrib and P. Scott Cunningham, Annie Hollingsworth (no relation to Thomas Hollingworth) has pursued a career in writing and now works with a number of publications including Artburst. To invest in Artlurker and the future of the Miami Writer’s Prize please visit www.artlurker.com and click Donate via PayPal.