New Editor Ruth Resnicowâs brief tenure during volume 21 focused largely on funding and the survival of the arts, with three issues providing a comprehensive look at politics, public art, residencies and a host of other topics contributing to the general subject. Within these issues, original cover art by artists Lisa Tuttle (see photo) and Leslie Bellevance provided striking visual aesthetic moments, while then-Associate Editor Michael Pittariâs first feature article for the magazine appeared in the form of an interview with painter/video artist Cheryl Donegan. Other theme issues that year-different than in previous years in that all of the magazineâs content, except for reviews and news briefs, was dedicated to a given topic-focused on ãthe Curio Cabinet,ä ãArtistâs Books: Print Era and After,ä and ãCultural Ownership.ä The latter, in particular, was a seminal issue in moving the direction of the magazine towards globalism and cultural hybridity, with articles by Gerardo Mosquera, David Mura, and Olga Viso, as well as cover art by Jose Bedia. This year also saw the introduction of two regular columns: Studio Visit, devoted to the work of an emerging artist of note, and the Artistsâ Survival Guide, offering practical advice for working artists.

Under new Editor Michael Pittari, volume 22 continued the all-theme focus begun by Ruth Resnicow the previous year but with an editorial direction that was not so much a break from the magazineâs past as much as an embrace of the changing issues in contemporary art. The year began with an issue guest edited by Senior Editor Jerry Cullum, ãRe-thinking Folk Art,ä which epitomized the new direction for its global view of self-taught art, and continued with a more traditional issue on ãThe Future of Alternative Spaces.ä ãNew Trends in Contemporary Artä (see photo) broke new ground through explorations by Contributing Editors Maureen Sherlock and Dinah Ryan on suburban and gothic art aesthetics, and an issue on ãEducation in the Artsä addressed K-12, college and museum art education while discussing technology and digital culture as new components of learning. The September/October issue, ãArt and Film,ä contained an interview with David Lynch in addition to articles on Peter Greenaway and the painterly aesthetics of Jean-Luc Godard. That issue also saw the inclusion of a new column, In, on international art scenes. The year concluded with ãArt, Identity, Stereotypes,ä an issue which re-visited many of the themes of 1997âs ãCultural Ownershipä with some humorous twists.

Introducing the current Art Papers logo, volume 23 focused on a variety of subjects at the crossroads of art and culture. An issue on ãArt and Scienceä (see photo) explored this prescient topic at length, while ãThe New Language of Music,ä the last all-theme issue, took the magazine into territory previously unexplored in such depth. Beginning with the May/June issue-containing the first hard-stock cover since earlier that decade, and the first interior color since well before-the publication began the current practice of running a major article along with features on other topics and an expanding array of columns such as Departures and Surviving, the latter an evolved and more anecdotal Artistsâ Survival Guide. Cover stories such as ãPainting at the End of the Century,ä ãPhotography at the End of the Century,ä and ãApocalyptic Cinemaä were thus balanced by articles on topics such as performance art, art and activism, conceptually-oriented ceramics, the paintings and drawings of Hermann Hesse, and Chinese painter Chen Ping. Interviews included artists David Reed and Liza Lou, as well as Whitney Museum Director Maxwell Anderson and noted Surrealism authority Mary Ann Caws. While the magazine continued its expansion of the review section to encompass much of the U.S., individual reviews now categorized by region rather than the previous alphabetical listing, the In column focused abroad on some of the hotbeds of art today, including Berlin, Venice, Bilbao, Paris, Belfast and Havana.

Volume 24 saw a dramatic change in the magazine, as increased printing costs made the switch to a smaller size format an economic necessity. While some missed the tabloid-size which the publication had maintained since volume two, the new format gave Art Papers increased distribution possibilities, thus beginning the first significant expansion of readership in many years. The year began with a 25-year survey and interview with Laurie Anderson, one of the first ãArtist to Artistä contributors back in 1979 along with John Turturro, and a travelogue from Japan on the dance-art form Butoh. That issue also introduced the Soundbytes column, in which Patrick Hughes has written regularly on innovative musical forms. The following issue included an essay by historian Robert Rosenblum on the Norman Rockwell Retrospective, for which the magazine designed a special cover mimicking the Saturday Evening Post, and an interview with Maya Lin. Other issues covered topics including extended adolescence in contemporary art, 30 years of conceptual art, Radcliffe Baileyâs ãMagic Cityä exhibition, and a group of Chinese expatriate artists including Muna Tseng and her deceased brother, Tseng Kowng Chi. Interviews were conducted with critic Dave Hickey, artist Richard Misrach, and composer/musician Pauline Oliveros, while the surprise of the year was Mary Ann Cawsâ tribute to Hedda Sterne, the lone female and surviving member of the infamous ãIrascible Eighteenä group of Abstract Expressionist painters (see photo).

This yearâs anniversary volume addressed the magazineâs ongoing history through guest editorials from the former Editors, while contributions from past and recent authors explored current topics in art. These included Alan Sondheimâs account of 25 years as a web theorist and artist, Eric Bookhardtâs essay for the recent Readings column on portrait books of crowds, Sue Canningâs recounting of the careers of Martha Rosler and Barbara Kruger, and George Gessertâs study on art, nature and genetics. Gean Moreno and Carl Heyward made big statements through an issue on ãArt, Sex and the Body,ä while others such as Brandon LaBelle and William Kaizen broke new ground with articles on German sound artist Achim Wollscheid and the New York art-rock collective, Sonic Youth. Other articles covered the pragmatic philosophy of artist/architect and 1996 Olympic Cauldron designer Siah Armajani, globalism in conceptual art, and artists and contemporary domesticity. This year introduced a new column, Performance Notes, and also contained an interview with painter Jonathan Lasker. Volume 25 also saw the magazineâs first investigation in many years on the topic of regionalism through a major cover story on the growth of ãArt in the Sunbelt,ä which provided in-depth articles on the art scenes in Georgia, South Florida and Texas along with sidebars on 10 spots, from Charleston to San Diego, across the southern tier of the U.S.-a fitting tribute to the growth of the magazine and subsequent expansion of its original editorial mission.