Editor’s Hello:
Yuletide in NYC means Parties, Parades, High Culture, Beautiful Lights, and Great Shopping!
EDITOR’S NOTE: Special NYC Issue: As an artist, editor, publisher, and career-long member of the 4th estate, I have logged many years in NYC, for work and by having an apartment there for 10 years. For me, New York City is the center of “The Cultural Universe!” I have some friends who say I am particularly prejudiced (in a positive way) towards NYC and it’s importance in the USA, but as far as “The Arts” go, NYC absolutely is the most influential city in the world! When I was young, I asked a highly respected contemporary art curator and museum director, “What is the best city in the US to set up my studio and have a chance for success as an artist and/or to buy, collect and sell art?” She said, “I’ll tell you the best three cities for artist, curators and art sales: New York City, New York City, and New York City. The art world is all about New York City!” All artists must pass the difficult, approval and anointment/lottery system that NYC’s art world chaotically dishes out, before international credibility and art star status is granted. In the history of art Paris, London, St. Petersburg, Berlin, Florence, and other cities have been the center of influence, but going on 80 years now, ever since the Abstract Expressionists redefined art, New York has been the undisputed capital of the Art World. Change is inevitable and the art crown could shift to China or possibly Germany, both are strong influencers today, but currently, the world looks to New York City to define contemporary art and for a window into the artists and art of the future.
I have read, the first place foreign tourists want to visit in the “States” is Disney World!?! The second place is New York City and the third is Las Vegas. Humm, all are a kind of… Fantasylands.
We’ll will put Disney World and Vegas aside for another time, because this issue of ARTS & FOOD® is dedicated to America’s #1 destination “City,” NYC! Since November and December are also America’s biggest Holiday Season, there is no place in the US that does the Holidays better than NYC! Starting with the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, then followed by fancy Holiday Galas, Dress to the Nines Parties, Festive Lights, Holiday Window Displays and the exceptional Christmas Shopping along Fifth Avenue, Madison Avenue, and various shopping districts, very exciting times!
Many Americans have already done much of their Holiday Shopping by the time Thanksgiving comes around with eCommerce playing such a big role. Today online shopping makes “everything in the world” available from the comfort of our homes, at any hour. Physical retail will always have a place in American society, but the digital era has changed every aspect of our lives including how we consume.
As an online publisher, neck-deep in eCommerce, I still enjoy going out into the cold weather, walking through retail stores, hearing the holiday music, seeing the lights and wrapping myself in a bright and cheery holiday vibe, with frost on the windows and snow under my feet. Come January, all of those beautiful yuletide snow-scenes outside will transform into just another freezing winter day, where I dread going out into the ear-numbing cold.
Enjoy the Holidays and if you find yourself in New York City during this season… LUCKY YOU!
Until later, Jack Atkinson
Founder, Editor, Publisher
ARTS & FOOD ®
