Stretcher

FAQ

Stretcher is an online publication/artists project centered in the San Francisco Bay Area. From 2000-2010 Stretcher published hundreds of articles, essays, projects, salons and conversations, created events, installations, and performances and participated in several exhibitions. Stretcher remains open to future projects and collaborations. The new website maintains all past material and will publish new material occasionally.

Stretcher’s mission is to encourage dialog about contemporary art and visual culture in the San Francisco Bay Area. As one of the first online publications in the area, Stretcher covered visual arts and culture in the international art community centered in the San Francisco Bay Area through its online site, live public events, and related media projects. By increasing the reach and visibility of Bay Area conversations, reflections, and criticism, Stretcher stimulates creative development, enhancing the intensity, focus, and relevance of art to the issues faced by our community. The archives serve artists and researchers, drawing thousands of readers each month.

When Stretcher started, the lively art scene in the Bay Area was hampered by a lack of critical attention. By using the then-new online publishing medium to boost the number of artists and exhibitions receiving critical attention by several multiples, Stretcher raised the visibility of the Bay Area art scene internationally. There are now a number of other excellent online or digitally printed publications covering art in the area. With the re-launch of the site, Stretcher is also re-launching the goals of the site, shifting the emphasis from reviews and essays to special projects driven by creative engagement. Above all, Stretcher remains true to its original mission of fomenting discussion about the pertinent issues of the day in visual art and culture.

Projects that inject a distinctive note into the flow of opinion and discourse online.

Stretcher editors are open to discussing possible projects with interested artists and writers.

Stretcher has been an all-volunteer site since its inception.

Donations to Stretcher are tax-deductible to the full extent allowed by law. Stretcher is currently fund-raising to establish an endowment to ensure the maintenance of the site over the next fifty years.

Stretcher has encompassed hundreds of contributors over the past decade, who are named in the Credits section of the site. The site was originally conceived by Glen Helfand and Megan Wilson, in conjunction with Amy Berk, Andy Cox and David Lawrence. Publishers emeritus include Helfand, Wilson, Cox, Ella Delaney and Meredith Tromble. Current core Stretcher publishers are Amy Berk, David Lawrence, Cheryl Meeker and Ed Osborn.