Oct 5, 2009
Unsophisticated, but Enthusiastic – Scenes from Fall Arts Goggle 2009
By: Kevin Buchanan
The title, of course, comes from the now semi-infamous coverage of Arts Goggle by the Star-Telegram’s faux-hip Weekly Wannabe, DFW.com, where Gaile Robinson had this to say about the premiere Near Southside art event:
That’s how the merchants are billing it, and “indie” is an apt description. Whatever the works might lack in sophistication, the event and the artists make up for in enthusiasm.
One suspects that if Arts Goggle were run by a group of wealthy west-side residents and was healthily sponsored by Chesapeake Energy, the DFW.com coverage might have been more supportive, instead of reducing a major community art event with 65 venues and 15+ live bands to the level of an elementary school art fair where everybody gets a “Participant” ribbon. Though, we shouldn’t be too hard on DFW.com – after all, whatever they lack in genuine community enthusiasm, being in-touch with the indie scene, and local event coverage, they more than make up for in their enthusiastic efforts to be a half-baked corporate white-bread second-rate Fort Worth Weekly clone with all the sincerity and sense of local connection removed.
For everybody else, the biggest Arts Goggle yet was a grand time. Despite the off-and-on rain, large crowds circulated through the Near Southside, checking out the various art offerings on hand. We also had a lot of fun providing the narrated tours on Molly the Trolley, which in Fort Worthology’s case wound up running three hours instead of two just because the crowds were strong and we were all having too much fun. A big thanks to Fort Worth South, Inc. and the cadre of volunteers that helped make this an unsophisticated but enthusiastically great event. Now, a selection of photos.
You should just ignore them, Kevin. Inferiority-complex stances are very unbecoming (and more importantly, completely non-productive). Just keep working hard. Don’t ever ask for respect, or belittle people who didn’t give it to you. You’ll never ever get it that way no matter how deserved.
I had a great time, by the way.
I have to disagree – they deserve to be called out for this, and it might as well be us to do it. No “inferiority complex” needed. The S-T gets away with a lot of lameness, and I think it’s helpful to jab a stick back at them every once in a while.
I know it’s not the “Fort Worth Way,” but the Fort Worth Way rarely results in anything getting accomplished. We need the S-T to be better, because they’ve got the money and the reach that neither this blog nor the Weekly will likely ever have. I have no illusions about the level of exposure that S-T properties get versus us. It’s just the simple reality of the world. Because of that, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect better of them in terms of local event/arts coverage.
And if it takes the occasional dose of acidic vitriol to express that, so be it. I’m happy to oblige every once in a while.
Watch out Tarrant County local arts organizations. With the ST’s shared content philosophy most of their Arts reviews will come from the Dallas Morning News moving forward. Fair and balanced arts reviews are a thing of the past for ST. However, I imagine if you spend enough ad money with them you may be able to sway their Edit. Don’t you think Mr. Wortel?
I applaud your calling out the ST on this. I was an Arts Goggle participant and enjoyed it greatly, and shame on them for missing the boat on this great event.
Love the pictures!
What treatment is that? I am interested in the picture of the Turkish Cafe with the Alfa Romeo in front especially.
Good times, good times, despite the rain. Not enough pedicab riders, though.
Hey, cruel to be kind. Keep it up, Kevin.
[...] and it was a huge success. If you’d like to see some genuinely sincere coverage of the event, check out this article. However, I think this article can still teach us writers a valuable lesson—that regardless of [...]