Lola Magazine Bids Farewell

Lola is no more. A press release announcing the end was issued this afternoon:

(Toronto, July 28, 2003) With the recent publication of its first summer issue, Lola magazine, a favourite among the art cognoscenti of Toronto, will cease publication. After seven years of independently publishing the feisty visual arts magazine Lola’s three principles, Editor Catherine Osborne, Art Director Sally McKay and Publisher Sharon Salson Gregg, today announced they will no longer publish Lola as they wish to move on to other projects.

Near the bottom of the release was this:

"Our goal was to take a different approach to discussing art," says Osborne. "We set out to take art beyond the mildewy halls of academe and into the world where anyone can be a part of it. With Lola, we’ve been chiseling away at art-phobia, that great rush of stupidity many feel when they look at art and aren’t sure what to make of it. It turns out there was and continues to be a huge and growing appetite for contemporary art and when you communicate about art in a credible way, more people get turned on. I think we’ve done something important."

I have little to add beyond reinforcing the idea that Lola in fact did do something important. The publication will be missed, but after seven years, it's easy to understand why those involved decided to move on. I wish them nothing but sucess in their future pursuits.