We had the good fortune of connecting with Gordy Grundy and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Gordy, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?

We are all products of our environment. I was lucky to grow up in a small beach town in Southern California. Within a relatively small region, action sports were innovating everything. Hollywood was pumping out product and the aerospace industry was creatively booming. Everyone was pursuing something. Everyone was action-oriented, invested in their quests for speed or beauty or a mad idea.

That’s why I am always eager to say “Sure! Let’s roll.” I like an adventure. I like chasing and making things.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.

As an artist, I am always looking for inspiration. I saw that the fine arts media was focused on a small target audience, the rich one percent, while ignoring the other ninety-nine.

I realized that there was no such platform on our internet to bring a wider audience to the arts. We took a deep dive with ArtReportToday.com. Today, we have the most comprehensive arts and culture news platform, worldwide, with an average of 150 articles and videos, constantly changing.

Art Report Today will take you to far away places. Galleries large and small, cinema, music and sound, street art to ceramics. The site has been publishing since April 2019, with over 280 editions. Our free Sunday Lounge newsletter is sublime. (There is a subscription link below.)

How did you get to where you are today professionally?

The grand, uphill hike! It has been a lot of work. Life is unkind. Covid, an imploding media market and now inflation are the broken glass in the road that we have to navigate around. I wrote an essay for Artillery magazine ‘Bouncing in the Artist’s Bubble.’  The essay details the creation of  Art Report Today as an arts advocacy. It’s a good read, with some laughs. (Artillery link below.)

Was it easy? If not, how did you overcome the challenges?

Aggregating the best news stories from around the world, Art Report Today presents a deep, beautiful dive into our arts and culture. Of course, the journey has not been easy.

Our second year slammed into Covid, so all we could do is sit on our hands, smile and keep the editorial quality high. We know the odds are against us. The fine arts is not as appealing as pickle ball, porn or K-Pop. Our audience is growing, but slowly. We need influencers and advertisers.

The business world has yet to recover from Covid. The media markets are laying-off and disintegrating. Ad sales are way down. We have had to get creative with revenue resources. By looking at our model in a drastically new way, we think we may have solved our problem. Or not. We’ll find out!

What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way?

A Top Ten Lesson: You will always be surprised. Expect change. No matter what you set out to do, halfway down the road, you will realize that the object that you hold in your hand is nothing like you imagined and intended. Your approach and goals will shift.

Change moves quickly these days. We are bombarded from so many sides. Be ready to pivot, repaint and remap.

What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?

We are cheerleaders. We call attention to the arts and culture in bright, interesting ways. Our humanity benefits. Lives are made better. Our mission of ArtReportToday.com is to bring the joys, wonder and peace of the fine arts to the world.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?

LA has such a fascinating menu. Food would motivate the itinerary. Second, the history of the city is fascinating. I favor old joints that were part of the city’s telling. Third, but always eager to leap to the top spot, LA traffic is a prevailing issue. Money is a revolving issue. Are you flush or flat? So, what do you wanna do? Or rather, what can we do?

If you were picking up the tab, I say “Let’s go to Musso and Franks.” If I was paying, I’d suggest Pie ’N Burger in Pasadena.

Given the difficulty of planning such a clever and detailed itinerary, compounded by parking, poverty and traffic, I would find it easier, cheaper and happier to stay in and cook well.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
The arts community in Los Angeles is large and quite unique. A shared-sense of wonder binds strangers easily. The LA art world is a series of many tribes, clans and cabals. We comprise a sprawling, like-minded school of smart fish. I am so grateful to have been swimming in such beautiful waters. This shoutout is to the Los Angeles artist and our fascinating histories.

Website: https://www.ArtReportToday.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/art_report_today/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gordy-grundy-3523b525

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Gordy.Grundy

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVtrBgi_BMMWkvJKXc6gIwA/videos

Other: Artillery magazine just published the epic story of an artist’s journey ‘Bouncing in the Artist’s Bubble.’ It’s a good read, with some laughs. Click Here: https://artillerymag.com/bouncing-in-the-artists-bubble-part-one/ Subscribe to our free Sunday Lounge newsletter: https://www.artreporttoday.com/subscribe-moo.html

Image Credits
Shannon Jammin’ Photos

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