ATHICA Athens Institute for Contemporary Art Inc.

Taking on the age old theme of love, Crafting Romance focuses on expressions of love, especially on their association with domestic and decorative arts. realms traditionally thought of as seperate and lesser enterprises than the fine arts- despite the legacy of over 30 years of feminist art practice. While this colorful collection of international and national works was produced in a wide variety of media- jewelry, video, drawing, installation, photography, sculpture and sticker art and more-it is bound together by its wit and relationship to craft.

ATHICA Emerges III introduces new works by three young local artists and one artist team. The curators selected these artists from over two dozen entries. Excitingly, this year's exhibit veers away from the painting and sculpture work of the first two years of ATHICA's local emerging artists showcase, with new media, photo-based works and conceptual practices predominating. The four projects include two that explore personal journeys, both virtual and actual, and two that use inventive ways of recording and representing personal experiences.

Almost daily we hear of another round of newspaper layoffs, another venerated publication on the brink of bankruptcy or another small town newspaper ceasing production altogether. In the digital age, while newspapers and incapable of competing with the web's low cost and efficency, fears of the death of print run rampant-despite boomers' clinging nostalgia for their morning paper over cereal.