2 minute read
New Partners
By Jim Speirs, Executive Director Arts South Dakota
I AM INCREDIBLY EXCITED about this edition of Arts Alive, published for the first time in partnership with South Dakota Magazine. For 23 years and 70 issues, we have relied on the steady advice, creative spark and editorial eyes of Stephen and Catherine Thurman to ensure every issue of Arts Alive fulfilled the mission of informing and uniting South Dakotans around the arts. Thank you, Stephen and Catherine!
As the saying goes, “when one door closes, another opens,” and that could not be more true for this publication. When the Thurmans announced their retirement more than a year ago, an immediate sense of panic set in. How would we ever find another partner with the same skills and commitment to the arts as the Thurmans? It was a tall order, especially after 25 years of partnership. But in South Dakota, friends are never far away. In this case, we found them just down the road in Yankton. South Dakota Magazine is one of the Midwest’s premier publications. Its writers and photographers have explored our state since 1985, looking for interesting people and places that define our culture, heritage, arts, nature and communities. With more than 35 years of publishing and 160,000 readers, South Dakota Magazine could not be a better partner to tell the story of our state’s amazing artists and creative communities.
Our new partnership will mean a dedicated Arts Alive section in every issue of South Dakota Magazine, along with a stand-alone, annual member-edition Arts Alive newsletter (this issue), all arriving regularly in your mailbox. In addition, in 2023, we will launch a brand-new annual Arts Journal, chronicling a year of the ever-changing creative expression of South Dakota’s arts community.
As we say goodbye to the Thurmans, we say hello to the next chapter of Arts Alive, and we can only hope for as long of a run with South Dakota Magazine! We hope you enjoy the next chapter as much as the first.
Jim Speirs, Arts South Dakota Executive Director
This partnership is made possible with funds from the State of South Dakota through the Department of Tourism and from the National Endowment for the Arts.
