Since our first edition in 1996, Inside has published an estimated 1,400 works by approximately 400 artists. Because each of our four editions carries its own cover, we showcase an extraordinary range of paintings, photographs and mixed media.
From the start, I’ve selected every cover image. Of all the jobs involved in publishing Inside, curating cover art is my favorite. It satisfies a creative need. Selecting art and writing for the publication bring tremendous pleasure.
The idea of featuring local art was borrowed. When I told my mother, who lived in Michigan, I was designing a community newspaper for East Sacramento, she reminded me of the Ann Arbor Observer. The publication featured local art on its covers.
She sent me a copy. It was a healthy, substantial community newspaper, much like Inside would become. I followed its example. Another example—The New Yorker—has for more than a century shown how magazine covers serve as artistic showcases. We both published covers by Wayne Thiebaud.
Finding and reproducing artwork was complicated in the 1990s. Digital photography was emerging. Artist websites were a fantasy.
I found artists by visiting galleries or contacting people whose work I noticed. I would take a film camera and photograph the original artwork. Before it could appear on our cover, film was processed and photos scanned.
Digital photography made the job easier. Artists photographed their work and created websites with portfolios. Now artists email images for consideration. I quickly determine whether a work’s color, dimensions and orientation will suit our format.
The art space on our covers never changes. It’s 9.2 inches wide by 7.8 inches tall. Every image is cropped to those proportions. Tall, narrow works generally don’t translate. Sometimes the cover becomes a detail of the original.
Color is essential. We publish few black-and-white or dark tone works. Newsprint is not bright white. It has a gray cast and is highly absorbent, causing every dot of black ink to expand slightly when printed. Images must be adjusted to print lighter, brighter and more colorfully than they might appear on a computer screen.
Despite the adjustments, I’ve never had a complaint from an artist. They are grateful for the exposure.
A few hundred people might see a gallery exhibition. After a work is purchased, a few visitors might view it. But each Inside cover reaches 20,000 homes in Sacramento’s finest neighborhoods. We publish information about the artist. Most cover works are available to buy.
Unless readers display art in their homes, our covers might be the only local original works they encounter. That makes our role especially meaningful.
With 80,000 copies carrying four different artworks into homes and businesses each month, Inside has no doubt created the largest ongoing audience for local art in the region.
Partnerships expand our featured artists. They include the KVIE Art Auction, Crocker Art Museum’s Art Auction, California State Fair Publisher’s Award, Sacramento Photography Month and charitable events where art supports fundraising.
Some artists appear on our covers once. Others become familiar faces to our readers—like Jill Estroff, our most-published cover artist, with more than a dozen covers to her name. Many of the artists whose work appeared in our earlier years have since moved away or passed on. And while new work continues to arrive, I still have hundreds of art images on file that have yet to find their way onto our covers.
This month’s cover selections are among my favorites we have published over the years. In fact, years ago I purchased two of the original works, and they now hang in our home, where we get to enjoy them every day.
To celebrate 30 years of bringing art into local homes, we are sponsoring The Art of the Cover: 21 Artists Celebrate 30 Years of Inside Sacramento at Twisted Track Gallery, 1730 R Street. We invited 21 artists whose work has appeared on the covers of Inside Sacramento over the years.
I encourage everyone who loves Inside and appreciates the exceptional artists who make this region such a creative place to come to the Second Saturday Reception on Saturday, Oct. 10, from 6 to 9 p.m. Meet the artists and me, see the work in person, and celebrate 30 years of art on our covers.
Or stop by Twisted Track Gallery anytime during the month to see the exhibition. The exhibition runs through October. For details, visit twistedtrackgallery.life.
This is an opportunity to experience these works in person. Some are much larger than the images on our covers. The scale, texture, color and detail offer a different experience.
After three decades, I’m proud that Inside gives artists a platform and readers the pleasure of finding original art at their front door.
Cecily Hastings can be reached at publisher@insidepublications.com. Previous columns can be found and shared at InsideSacramento.com. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram: @insidesacramento.
