Voting for Art: An Artist in the Running

Elizabeth Kramer
July 2, 2013

With the rise of the internet and social media, artists can be hooked up with more contests that allows the public to vote on their work in various competitions. Democracy at work in the arts. Maybe.

The latest involves local textile artist Pamela Mattei who is running a close second to getting an image of her multicolored fabrics on the cover of The Crafts Report, a 38-year-old monthly business magazine for crafts professionals. I could tell from the press releases the artist sent me and a phone call today, Mattei really wants her hand dyed silk scarves to appear on the magazine’s October issue. She’s now getting a bit anxious with the voting scheduled to end at 9 a.m., July 4. (Voting consists of clicking on “like” where a photo of Mattei’s work appears on the magazine’s Facebook page.)

So far, the artist has rounded up many local voters from arts community. There’s local sculptors Dennis Shaffner and Jacque Carter Parsley, glass artists Ann Klem and Joy Lait, and jewelry maker Deb Chenault. The list also includes theater people, Bunbury Theatre’s Juergen Tossmann and playwright Diana Grisanti. On Facebook, Kentucky Arts Council’s Ed Lawrence and Courier-Journal conservative columnist Bradford Cummings wrote words of support.

Now, I guess, it’s up for others to decide.

See more at: http://blogs.courier-journal.com/artsbureau/2013/07/02/voting-for-art-an-artist-in-the-running/#sthash.bIc8w1IJ.dpuf http://blogs.courier-journal.com/artsbureau/2013/07/02/voting-for-art-an-artist-in-the-running/

Meet Elizabeth Kramer

Arts Bureau reveals the evident and the sometimes imperceptible aspects of how the arts emanating from the Louisville region and beyond shape our everyday lives and the greater world. Join Courier-Journal arts reporter Elizabeth Kramer in conversations about all genres of art and how it impacts the way we live. She’ll keep you informed on what she is writing about and art-related reports and events.

Kramer, an award-winning journalist, has worked at newspapers and public radio stations producing stories that have focused on art, the influence of funding and policies on regional arts groups, and how the arts impact other areas including health care, education and religion. She’s worked for publications and radio stations in the Midwest and Northeast. She received her bachelor’s from Indiana University and a master’s of science in journalism from Columbia University.