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Almost three years ago to the day I edited my first piece for The Curator: Diesel Wants You to “Be Stupid,” in which Brian Watkins mocked the ad agency that wamboozled a desperate-to-persuade DIESEL Company into thinking that the ticket to selling more pairs of $200 jeans was to remind their customers of all of the other stupid things they’ve done in their lives, celebrating seatbeltless nights, winking at pyromania, “not stopping” Miley Cyrus style. “Be Stupid! Be Stupid! Be Stupid! And please, for the sake of our denim, be stupid with your AmEx!”
Watkins, a very talented Brooklyn-based playwright, did so by writing dialogue between the DIESEL and an AD MAN. On that Thursday, new to the editorial staff, I saw loose cords bound up in a unique way. Instead of a basic critique, he chose a comedic conversation that frowned on bad advertising ploys and poor consumer choice-making. The piece made you LOL and it made you wince. It framed an “is” of culture and suggested a possible “ought,” and it all happened on a simple WordPress platform.
When the piece went live the next day, I was happy to have played a role in publishing something I enjoyed thinking about, something that I thought should be out there for people to consider. Brian went on to write pieces on Sixpoint Brewery, P.T. Anderson’s film The Master, Gloria (a woman who made a daily habit of reading the NYT obituary section), The Economist, Meek’s Cutoff , The “FIFA Flop,“ Rick Steves and much more. I went on to read and edit these works, and since then Brian has become a great support to me personally and in the work of our publisher International Arts Movement.
The Curator exists to provide a space for folks to write about what they love and what they hate, to take up the reins in a discussion of particularities, the sort of particularities that many workplaces, congregations and colleges ask you to check at the door for the sake of appearing unified and strong as critics/reformers of culture. At The Curator we are pot stirrers, we are comfortable asking questions, we are happy to have differing opinions and we welcome variety. None of this work is earth-shattering, but it is important, especially when you consider the sorts of exchanges that often happen online.
For years we’ve been trying to foster a new kind of dialogue, a communal revelry in “the artifacts of culture—those things humans create—that inspire and embody truth, goodness, and beauty.” Despite challenges and changes of the guard, we are pleased to do our work. Our writers have squeezed in writing between household duties and 9-5 jobs, our editors have spent late nights editing after long days at work and generous volunteers have helped us with our site design.
We’ve proved that we know how to operate in a streamlined and lean manner, but we now have the desire to grow, and we need your help to do so. We know that it isn’t as simple as getting money to pay people, because then we may end up paying the same circle of folks that appear at a handful of other like-minded publications that can pay. We want to thank our long-time Curator writers, recruit outsiders, and provide training and critical discipleship. Our current budget (a number so low that when I share it with people they’re shocked) doesn’t allow for that. I am convinced that with more resources we’ll be able to present you with a great magazine.
Would you consider giving to our Indiegogo campaign so that we can work to deliver this to you?
Meaghan Ritchey,
Managing Editor
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