Q: What does “Petrichor” mean? Why is this magazine called that?
A: Petrichor is the smell right after it rains, usually in the summer. This was a smell I experienced often in Pittsburgh, and I love an esoteric word. The name of this magazine is Petrichor or Petrichor Magazine, not Petrichor Pittsburgh or Petrichor PGH. Our Instagram is specifically petrichormagpgh because there is a landscaping business called Petrichor Gardens, owned by Claire Louise Ward, that already has the handle petrichor_pgh, so I didn’t want to cause confusion. They are a wonderful woman-owned business, and while the demographics for an art web magazine and a gardening company may not overlap, we both want to grow beautiful things.
Q: How often does Petrichor publish?
A: 2-3 days a week. Occasionally only once, or occasionally more. It depends on how much content we have—but you can count on the Pittsburgh artnews brief posts biweekly, and our columnists (Bob Freyer, David Bernabo, and Victoria Sterling) once a month.
Q: Who runs Petrichor?
A: Emma Riva. This is a one-woman operation. The administrative side of it, running the site, designing the site, posting on the Instagram, that’s all me. However, this magazine would not be what it is without the regular contributors, whom you can find on our staff page. Our logo is by Grant Catton.
Q: What does Petrichor publish?
A: News related to the arts in Pittsburgh. However, rather than being straight-up events coverage, I’m more interested in reflections or things more in the vein of what you might find in Interview or Artforum–on a smaller scale, Cleveland’s Miser Magazine or David Bernabo’s 2016-2017 The Glassblock. I’m open to work that is not “local interest” but by local people or broadly related to Pittsburgh. I started my art writing career covering graffiti, so I certainly do not restrict “art writing” to solely fine arts. One of the goals here is create a wider lens for the “Pittsburgh art scene” that isn’t just local. Here are some of the things I’m interested in:
- Reviews of art shows
- Profiles of local artists
- Essays/creative nonfiction
- Book reviews (particularly of art books or books connected to the city)
- Film coverage within the local scene
- Select fiction pieces
- Cross-posting with other local publications or reprints of particular pieces
- Music coverage — especially of more “underground” acts
Q: Is Petrichor in print?
Unless I win the Powerball or rob a bank, no. However, I do have some ideas about this, so stay tuned.
PETRICHOR 