About us

Art Threat is a leading media outlet devoted solely to political art and cultural policy. We write about art that seeks to interpret, influence, or reflect upon society. We discuss policy as it pertains to culture. And we showcase artists whose work inspires social change. Whether your passion is video or visual art, design or drama, music or literary musings, we’ve got you covered with a blanket of information and eye candy.

Art Threat is volunteer driven — please consider a donation to support our work, or get in touch if you want to submit your work or volunteer with us. Or just subscribe to our feed and help make sure artists continue to be heard!

Editor

Rob Maguire lives in Saskatoon, where he’s the marketing director for the Saskatchewan Jazz Festival by day, and edits his great-grandfather’s Armenian genocide memoirs by night. Once a gigging musician, Rob ditched the Econoline in his early 20s in favour of a MacBook and a megaphone, and has worked within the world of nonprofits ever since. Connect with him on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, or visit his nonprofit communications blog.

Contributing editors

Michael Lithgow is a PhD student at Carleton University in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication. His research interests are in the aesthetics of mediated truth(s) – the effects that aesthetic choices and experiences have on perceptions of truth. He is a research associate for OpenMedia.ca. His poetry has appeared in Canadian publications, most recently in Rutting Season published by Buffalo Runs Press.

Amanda McCuaig is an artist, journalist, and designer living in Vancouver. She studied political economy of communications at SFU, resulting in a quiet anxiety over consumerism and a permanent itch to re-democratize media(/everything). After years of training her parents mostly understand that she actually doesn’t want things for Christmas. Her paintings can be seen at mettlelurgy.com.

Ezra Winton is the founder of Cinema Politica, the largest campus-based documentary screening network in the world. He dangles one foot in activism and the other in academia, where he researches documentary cinema, audiences, and the politics of witnessing. He is pursuing a PhD at Carleton’s School of Journalism and Communication and is the co-editor of Challenge for Change: Activist Documentary at the National Film Board of Canada published by McGill-Queen’s University Press.

Contributors

Leslie Dreyer is an artist, videographer, community/event organizer, and proponent of creative, collaborative arts for social change. As Director of Programs for ShadowLight Productions in San Francisco, she is expanding their shadow theater projects beyond the stage by transforming them into platforms and tools for community dialogue and education. Randomly, thoughts about garbage and the simple fact that there is no “away” in “throw away” litter her mind.

Ainsley Jenicek is a Montreal-based activist, researcher, popular education enthusiast and artist. All of these activities help in her stubborn pursuit of social justice, with particular emphases on sexual assault prevention, migrant issues, and anti-oppression. Her fascination with popular culture also weaves through this work, and she is grateful that having a Master’s degree in Media Studies means she can be paid to watch TV.

More Regular Contributors: Stefan Christoff, Anikka Maya Weerasinghe