Art Matters was announced in April 2013.

Macon Arts Alliance (a Knight Arts grantee) announced today that Steve Murray has been named critic-in-residence as part of an arts journalism project in collaboration with Mercer’s Center for Collaborative Journalism. Art Matters: Engaging the Community through Embedded Arts Journalists is a one-year initiative designed to engage the community through high-quality arts journalism. In April, Macon Arts Alliance announced a $40,000 National Endowment for the Arts Art Works grant and a matching $40,000 grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to support the effort. The NEA award was among only four arts journalism projects nationwide funded by the NEA this year.

According to Macon Arts Alliance’s website:

“Art Matters is an initiative designed to engage the community through high-quality arts journalism. The Macon Arts Alliance (MAA), in collaboration with Mercer University’s Center for Collaborative Journalism (CCJ), will embed paid journalism interns in various arts organizations served by Macon Arts Alliance. These journalists will create news articles, blogs, video reports and more for local news outlets, the CCJ’s newsroom, and Macon Arts Alliance’s Ovations365.com and other publications. The program provides for a critic-in-residence at the CCJ and a series of public symposia that will pair different artists and critics to discuss the state of various art forms and criticism.”

A release from the Macon Arts Alliance stated:

“Murray is an award-winning writer, reporter, critic and playwright with years of experience as both a theater and film critic. He began his career at the weekly newspaper Southline in Atlanta as a staff writer and theater critic. He went on to be a staff writer at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Over his years at the paper, he was an arts writer, a film and television critic, and an adjunct editor for its weekly film section, Movies & More. Since 2009, Murray has worked as a columnist and film critic for ArtsATL.com, one of Atlanta’s leading arts blogs, covering all forms of art in the Atlanta metro area.”

Steve Murray is the new critic-in-residence for Macon Arts Alliance. He will work out of Mercer’s Center for Collaborative Journalism. Photo courtesy of Macon Arts Alliance

“I am excited to have on board someone with Steve’s talent and experience,” said Tim Regan-Porter, director of the Center for Collaborative Journalism. “Steve understands the art scenes nationally and here in Macon, and he knows first-hand the challenging nature of arts criticism in the evolving media landscape. He will provide valuable insight for students and help this program contribute to the local arts community and to the community at large.”

“This project is a great opportunity for young journalists to learn first-hand and in-depth the hard work that goes into making art. It’s also a chance to create an open and ongoing conversation among artists and the public about the many things we mean by ‘art,’ and why it’s a vital part of all of our lives. I’m hoping that Art Matters will be just the beginning of a long and rich dialogue in our community,” said Murray of the project.

More information on the project can be found at http://www.maconartsalliance.org/art-matters. This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, Art Works. Matching funding provided by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.