The following is the Publisher’s Note that opens the first issue of NoHo News. I wrote twelve Publisher’s Notes in the 20-issue run of NoHo Magazine, which I used variously to set up the theme of a particular issue, or discuss my other activities in the NoHo Arts District, or share some of my personal experience and views that came from publishing the magazine.
In this first Publisher’s Note, we get a glimpse of my motivation and hope for the magazine.
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The NoHo News aspires to be the consciousness of what is an idea in the minds of many community activists who are committed to creating a community where life and art commingle in a mutually enhancing relationship.
Quality of life is a popular term these days as we come to realize the limits of our existence. There was a time when life was a process of accumulation. The bumper sticker summed it up: “whoever dies with the most toys wins.” We’ve come out of the decadence of the eighties (at least for some) and are now realizing our limitations. We are discovering that consumerism is not the meaning of life, and that as we confront environmental annihilation, we are discovering that consumerism can mean the ending of life.
Criticism of consumerism is not necessarily a condemnation of business and the world of commerce. Perhaps it is a criticism of the excesses of commercialism. Certainly we need to feed, clothe, shelter and entertain ourselves, but we are discovering that we need more than what Vons, Nike, Donald Trump or NBC can provide.
Given that we are beginning to realize our limitations and the solution to life’s problems is not simply more, we begin to examine the quality of life. Improving the quality of life is a much more complicated problem than increasing the quantity of stuff. Improving the quality of life requires thought, reflection, ideas, creativity. This is the role of art and artists.
The NoHo Arts District is a place where the opportunity has arrive to create something that enhances the quality of life for those who experience NoHo. It is a place where the artistic community and the business community can join together to create something important and meaningful. NoHo can be a place where there is no distinction between audience and customer, or artist and businessperson. NoHo can be a place where people come to work and create.
The NoHo News is committed to creating a thriving artistic and business community that is the NoHo Arts District. Perhaps the most important element to any community is communication. The NoHo News will act as a means by which the various members of the NoHo community can communicate with each other and, perhaps most important, with the audience that the NoHo Arts District serves.
If you have any questions, comments, complaints, inquiries, etc. you can call or write me.
James A. Berg, Publisher
NoHo News
16830 Kingsbury St. Suite #251, Granada Hills, CA 91344
(818) 831-9803
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