For the last 50 years, Art Papers has cultivated and catalogued a world-ranging discourse on all things related to art. The Atlanta-based magazine is the longest-running nonprofit art journal in the United States, and with this proud legacy, Art Papers will sunset next year after its final 2026 issue. Additionally, a celebratory retrospective book, “50 Years of Art Papers,” will be released at the end of this year.
“It started out as the Atlanta Art Workers Coalition newsletter,” said Sarah Higgins, Art Papers’ executive and artistic director, during her recent interview with executive producer Kim Drobes on “City Lights,” “it was a one-pager in the beginning… and then it quickly grew into a multi-page folio-sized publication.”
Founded in 1977, Art Papers evolved from a grassroots resource into a critical platform, striking a balance between regional identity and international reach. “We are a part of a larger conversation, but we participate in that conversation in a very particular way that has to do with not taking for granted our centrality,” said Higgins.
As the publication prepares to sunset, its final issue — titled “Fire Ecology” — embraces both reflection and regeneration. “It’s a metaphor for an ecology that has evolved to need the old growth to burn in order for the seeds of the new growth to germinate,” Higgins explained.
“50 Years of Art Papers,” will be released at the end of 2025, archiving the magazine’s legacy. Rather than a chronological timeline, the book groups work by themes that have echoed throughout its history: regionalism, public art and the intersection of art with architecture and urban planning.
