Teasing interest from new readers with Public

The idea of providing a "sneak peek" about an issue is one worth considering by many magazines. So, for instance, the twice-yearly interdisciplinary arts journal Public provides a 40-page preview of the forthcoming 240-page issue of the magazine (it comes out June 25). If you weren't familiar with Public, it certainly gives you enough of a feel to consider going out and buying it or subscribing.

The current issue is a very interesting thematic exploration of large-scale public events such as Nuit Blanche in Toronto, Paris and Halifax.

"The recent success of Nuit Blanche, for instance, breeds a paradox: in one night, the number of visitors often surpasses the attendance at major art institutions for an entire year.
Despite such numbers, this popular exhibition format has so far yielded limited scholarship, which PUBLIC 45 seeks to engage. This issue on Civic Spectacle analyzes the greater context of performances that includes the time-honoured cultural forms of festivals and parades along with more spontaneous and oppositional events, such as flash mobs and activist interventions. Indeed, beyond Nuit Blanche, these types of civic spectacles respond to a situation of urban crisis: the loss of sustainable jobs as tourism and service industries replace manufacturing, the weakened political clout of cities as suburbs and exurbs become wealthier and more populous, and the challenges to retain a sense of community in the stressed circumstances of the downtown core."