January/February 1999 Issue

Conduit for Sale

Image: Nadia Tores/courtesy of Creative Time

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Last November, the Art Guys (a.k.a. Jack Massing and Michael Galbreth) spent eight hours walking a runway in Times Square dressed in Todd Oldham suits dotted with embroidered corporate logos. New York public-art benefactor Creative Time sponsored the project, called “Suits: The Clothes Make the Man,” in honor of Fashion Week. Fifty-six companies bought space on the suits — $1,500 to $7,000, depending on size and location. Did the advertisers purchase more than ad space? Says Massing: “We don’t necessarily endorse the products…[but] we like them all.” Galbreth disagrees: “We’re just vehicles for advertisers to attach themselves to.” The Art Guys will be wearing their suits at the opening of their Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art exhibition in Arizona on February 14.

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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