Articles by Rachel Gagnon

Unapologetic: Women Artists and Power through Vulnerability

Unapologetic: Women Artists and Power through Vulnerability

A selection of quotes and artworks from ART21-featured women artists proving that vulnerability and weakness are by no means synonymous.

The Myth of Wilderness

The Myth of Wilderness

How wild is the wilderness? Rachel Gagnon investigates how our experiences in nature are interpreted by artists and mediated by government agencies.

Planning Social Practice: An Interview with Mary Jane Jacob

Planning Social Practice: An Interview with Mary Jane Jacob

Mary Jane Jacob, director of the School of the Art Institute’s Sullivan Galleries, offers advice to artists who want to affect social change through their work.

Letter from the Editor

The Future Is Now

Letter from the Editor

The Future Is Now

Guest editor Rachel Craft introduces the summer issue, “Future.”

Dear Artist, What Was Your First Job?

Dear Artist, What Was Your First Job?

Artists Alec Soth, Spencer Finch, Martha Colburn, and Eleanor Antin discuss their very first jobs.

Flash Points

Call for Writers: New Flash Points Series on “Storytelling”

Flash Points

Call for Writers: New Flash Points Series on “Storytelling”

The Art21 Blog is looking for writers to contribute to our upcoming Flash Points series on Storytelling!

Flash Points

Call for Flash Points Writers | The New Culture Wars: What’s at Stake?

Flash Points

Call for Flash Points Writers | The New Culture Wars: What’s at Stake?

  In connection with Ideas, a new section of Art21’s website that will explore a single theme in depth over a period of several months, the Art21 Blog is calling for …

Flash Points

Art21 William Kentridge: Anything is Possible

New Flash Points: Influence

Flash Points

Art21 William Kentridge: Anything is Possible

New Flash Points: Influence

Among the elements explored in Art21’s William Kentridge: Anything is Possible, the film looks at his many influences, from his personal background to his love of the performing arts. What …

Flash Points

Art21 William Kentridge: Anything is Possible

Call for Writers: Next Flash Points

Flash Points

Art21 William Kentridge: Anything is Possible

Call for Writers: Next Flash Points

Our new Flash Points topic, Influence, will be launching soon and we’re inviting you to participate! An artist’s work can be influenced by a myriad of sources — family history, …

Flash Points

“Free” and Online Experience

Flash Points

“Free” and Online Experience

Free, an exhibition that opens October 20 at the New Museum, will explore the web’s impact on how we digest information and experience public space through the work of twenty-three …

Flash Points

Flash Points: Art & Experience

Flash Points

Flash Points: Art & Experience

We each look at the world from our own individual perspectives, within contexts that are constantly shifting.  Our unique outlook as viewers, the specific viewpoint of the artist, the curatorial …

Flash Points

Call for Writers: New Flash Points Topic

Flash Points

Call for Writers: New Flash Points Topic

Our new Flash Points topic, Art and Experience, will be launching soon and we’re inviting you to participate!  If this sounds good to you, read on: We each have our …

Flash Points

The Process Behind the Portrait

Flash Points

The Process Behind the Portrait

The practice of photographic portraiture is rife with ethical implications – from the subject’s awareness of the project, to the artistic choices made throughout the session, to the work’s resulting …

Flash Points

Flash Points: The Ethics of Art

Flash Points

Flash Points: The Ethics of Art

Today we launch the next Flash Points topic, The Ethics of Art. Ethics are defined as “a system of moral principles” which constantly factor into the choices we make. However, …

Flash Points

Call for Writers: New Flash Points Topic

Flash Points

Call for Writers: New Flash Points Topic

Our new Flash Points topic, The Ethics of Art, will be launching soon and we’re inviting you to participate.  Intrigued?  Want to know more?  Keep reading! This theme will look …

Flash Points

Art and Nature at Storm King

Flash Points

Art and Nature at Storm King

Flash Points Editor Rachel Craft interviewed David R. Collens, Director and Curator of Storm King Art Center, about the institution’s focus on the relationship between art and nature. —Ed. Rachel …

Flash Points

Flash Points: Art and the Environment

Flash Points

Flash Points: Art and the Environment

Today we launch the next Flash Points topic, Art & the Environment. We first addressed this issue in Season Four’s episode, Ecology, which delved into the work of artists who …

Flash Points

Conveying Compassion

Flash Points

Conveying Compassion

When I learned that Doris Salcedo was being featured in Art21’s episode on Compassion, I couldn’t imagine a more appropriate artist to represent this theme. However to me, Salcedo goes …

Emphasizing Visitor Experience

Emphasizing Visitor Experience

Another approach to museum transparency that I admire is that of the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver.  When you open the homepage of their recently re-designed website, you’re immediately confronted …

Museums and Transparency

Museums and Transparency

Eyes may be the windows to a person’s soul, but to me, it’s a website. Well, at least into the soul of an institution. Everything put online is a choice, …

Artist Interviews: Serkan Ozkaya and Pepe Mar

Artist Interviews: Serkan Ozkaya and Pepe Mar

While working on the interviews for my last post, I had an opportunity to meet two artists who were putting the finishing touches on their respective exhibitions. Serkan Ozkaya’s work …

Three Questions

Three Questions

Boots Contemporary Art Space White Flag Projects For my third post about the arts scene in St. Louis, I wanted to get the perspective of two newer arts spaces in …

Through our Neighbor’s Front Window

Through our Neighbor’s Front Window

Stan: our neighbor across the street Stan has lived on Washington Boulevard in Grand Center since 1995. He used to be a contractor, specializing in rehabs throughout the city, and …

Art in St. Louis

Art in St. Louis

A view of St. Louis (taken from my roof!) I wanted to give Art21 readers a sense of the arts landscape in St. Louis, but it’s a tall order to …

Documenting The Light Project

Documenting The Light Project

Wrapping up my previous post’s theme of installation—the online catalogue for the Pulitzer’s outdoor exhibition, The Light Project, allowed me to humor my love of the installation process on a …

Installing Art

Installing Art

Art installation = my favorite time to blog. In fact, while writing this, I found an embarrassing number of posts about installation in our archives. I think it plays into …

What is this place, anyway?

What is this place, anyway?

Starting my job as the public relations coordinator at the Pulitzer meant getting a crash course on how to answer all of our “Frequently Asked Questions”:  when we opened, who’s …

Greetings from St. Louis

Greetings from St. Louis

My name is Rachel Gagnon, and I’m writing from the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts – a “non-museum” located in the middle of a city that’s located in the middle …