Rainey Knudson, founder and publisher of the Texas online art magazine Glasstire will speak at the Dishman Art Museum, Feb. 28. A reception will be held at 5:30 p.m. prior to the talk at 6 p.m. Admission is free and open to the public.
Knudson’s lecture, “Art, Media and the Digital Dumpster Fire” will tell the story of Glasstire from its origin as a scrappy startup in 2000 to becoming a leading art journal nationally, a release states, including brushes with libel law, scrapes with art dealers and artists, and at least one death threat.
Knudson will also discuss how online journalism and the role of the critic has changed, and the lessons she’s learned from following Glasstire’s tagline, “Go See Some Art.”
“I’m interested in any majors who are interested in online media generally, and art specifically,” Knudson said in an email interview. “I was an English major, and I think (I hope?) I would have gotten something from my talk when I was in school. I talk a lot about how we communicate online, about social media, and about how things have changed. I think this applies to many fields of study.”
Stephanie Chadwick, Lamar University assistant professor of art history, said the talk will appeal to a wide range of students.
“Definitely the art studio and design students, (and) I think communications students, particularly anyone interested in journalism, but I think this could be interesting for people in a lot of different fields,” she said.
“I think it’s also really helpful for studio students, because it gives them an idea of what’s going on in the contemporary art world — also how people are talking about it and writing about it.”
Knudson said the simple definition of Glasstire is an online magazine about visual art in Texas.
“The long answer is that we provide critical discourse between artists and audiences through the mediated forum of an online magazine,” she said. “And we think about what all of those words mean, what their etymology is.”
Knudson has been on a farewell lecture tour since December, visiting universities and museums prior to leaving the publication.
“I like universities that are located in smaller cities,” she said. “I’ve been familiar with Lamar for years because of artists I admire who teach there, and because I usually try to run by and see what’s in the gallery when I visit the Art Museum of Southeast Texas.”
For more information,
visit www.lamar.edu/dishman and click on events
Story by Saydie Stanley, UP contributor