Arts journalism has virtually vanished in Western North Carolina. I know this first-hand: When I left Blue Ridge Public Radio in 2023, after more than five years there, arts journalism at BPR left along with me. It’s been more than a decade since the Citizen-Times devoted a reporter to the arts. Mountain Xpress no longer has an arts editor. Asheville Made has stopped printing.

The result: All but a rarified few literary, performing and visual artists are being interviewed. Their stories aren’t being told. And residents and visitors to our community are missing out on the unique art and performances they’re producing, largely because they don’t know about them.

I left BPR to launch and produce a locally focused podcast, The Overlook, where I blended arts coverage with interviews focusing on broader news, trends and issues in Asheville. With See Hear, I’m turning back to the roots and anchor points of my life in this region.

I’m not naive: The reasons arts journalism is evaporating here and elsewhere haven’t vanished. Through the early 2000s, newspaper publishers evolved from treating arts coverage as part of their civic and cultural DNA to regarding it an albatross that doesn’t drive subscriptions or ad revenue. Today, only the largest U.S. daily newspapers and only a handful of public radio outlets devote full-time staff reporting positions to the arts.

I’m styling See Hear as a dynamic, (on-the-path-to-being) nonprofit, online media platform featuring timely feature articles, podcasts and video about the arts throughout Western North Carolina. My mission is engaging the public about the performances, exhibitions, recordings, literary readings—and the artistic voices behind them—coloring life in our region.

Here’s what’s groundbreaking about my model: My base funding is coming from memberships paid for by the arts organizations our journalism supports. Advertising and foundation/government grants will come later, after See Hear is established, and play important roles in See Hear’s revenue, along with advertising.

This is a new model of community-supported arts coverage. For their memberships, arts organizations can ask See Hear to produce a certain number of stories about their productions and programming. This is an important, foundational rule meant to preserve journalistic integrity: Members can’t dictate how to produce these stories or the angle of them. They don’t get to see stories in advance and they don’t have approval rights on See Hear stories. But for groups otherwise struggling to see any real journalism about the work they stage, exhibit or publish, See Hear memberships guarantee the attention of a seasoned arts journalist.

Also, See Hear is committed to covering the broader arts community, regardless of membership. Many local artists, collectives and small organizations aren’t in positions to pay for memberships, and it’s important the site be accessible to noteworthy creators in our community.

See Hear content is free to read, watch, hear and share. Down the road, we will launch an audience membership tier for access to exclusive events and other member perks.

You can do four things right now to help See Hear gain a footing on the trail to sustainability, and they’re free:

If you have notions, inklings, criticisms or general feedback, send me a note to [email protected]