Art Papers always believed in the long game.
Founded in 1976 as a scrappy newsletter for the Atlanta Art Workers Coalition, it grew into one of the longest-running nonprofit art publications in the U.S., a voice for experimental criticism, Southern perspectives and the radical potential of artist-centered dialogue.
Now, Art Papers is preparing for its final bow, not with a whimper but with a celebration: 50 YEARS of ART PAPERS, a retrospective anthology set for release in early 2026. The pre-order window is open now through June 30, 2025.
“It felt like each issue included at least one thing that ‘really should be in the book,’” said Sarah Higgins, Art Papers’ executive and artistic director and editor of the volume. “The hardest decisions have been those moments of necessary elimination — of knowing readers would love to see certain pieces, but having to let them go because of space.”
The 260-page book pulls from a half-century of issues, spotlighting everything from critical essays and experimental writing to interviews with icons like Jacob Lawrence, a conversation Higgins rediscovered unexpectedly while digging through the 1987 archive.
“The hardest decisions have been those moments of necessary elimination — of knowing readers would love to see certain pieces, but having to let them go because of space.” — Sarah Higgins
The retrospective also tracks Art Papers‘ editorial and graphic shifts through the decades. Readers can trace the evolution of art publishing just by flipping through its changing layouts, typography and artist interventions.
A Regional Voice With Global Reach
Striking the balance between regional identity and international relevance has been a through-line for Art Papers since the beginning and was a critical lens for curating the anthology.
“My hope is that one of Art Papers’ legacies is proving that those two concepts are not mutually exclusive,” Higgins said. “The local and the global have always been entangled within Art Papers’ perspective.”
An Ending by Design, Not Default
The decision to end operations in 2026 was a choice rooted in integrity. Facing a difficult financial landscape and the rapid destabilization of arts publishing, Higgins and her team decided against letting Art Papers slowly erode into irrelevance.
Instead, they embraced a model they call “Fire Ecology,”an intentional conclusion that preserves and honors the organization’s full history.
By choosing to close on its own terms, Art Papers not only offers closure to its readers and contributors but ensures its archives, now in partnership with Emory University and MOCA GA, will remain accessible for future generations.
A Roadmap for the Next Wave
Higgins hopes 50 YEARS of ART PAPERS will offer both inspiration and invitation to the next generation of art writers, editors and publishers.
And while the anthology honors the past, it’s also a tactile record of an idea: that criticism, dialogue and artist-centered thinking are living traditions that matter—even in the face of change.
Pre-order the ART PAPERS 50th anniversary book now through June 30, 2025 at artpapers.org and receive $10 off the final cover price.
Meet Sherri Daye Scott, the new curator for the weekly Sketchbook newsletter.