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Not only is there nothing in the till; the Examiner is $150,000 in debt. Board member Curt Conklin, who stepped in as the magazine’s publisher a month ago, says the extent of the problem took him by surprise. After “a couple of board meetings where it was clear that this thing was just spiraling out of control,” Conklin says he came in, spent one “fun” week working on subscriptions and selling ads, and then “got a call that we couldn’t make payroll. So I wrote a check out of my checkbook. A couple days later I learned that the landlord was preparing to evict us. [After that] I suspended operations.” Hixson had been at the magazine nine years; buzz at gallery openings last weekend was that she’d been fired by Conklin. He says that’s not the way he thinks of it: “Kathryn had written a letter to the board saying that she wanted to leave at the end of the summer. The board would have loved to pay her through [then] but we didn’t have any funds to do it. So we accepted her resignation on an abbreviated schedule.” Hixson, who’s “proud of everything I did for the Examiner and grateful for the support people gave all those years,” says she did not resign. “I was told to leave on April 26.”
Manilow’s money, reportedly $100,000, was used for the redesign and to hire a publisher (Conklin’s predecessor, Caryn Koplik, who left last winter); he hadn’t been involved in the last year and “was surprised and disappointed to learn about the finances,” according to Conklin. “I’m in for $75,000 to $100,000 myself, including what I’ve given and my salary,” Conklin adds. “My goal right now is to raise $150,000 in contributions of $20,000 to $30,000. August 1 is my drop-dead date. If we can’t get it done in three months, we have to stop the bleeding.” On the other hand, he says, “If I can eliminate this debt there’s no doubt in my mind that revenues can exceed costs. The fundamentals are terrific.” Best-case scenario: a new New Art Examiner up and running with the September/October issue.
The One With the Best Paintings Wins
