Campaign EXTENDED! In an effort to meet our goal and properly celebrate the launch of our redesign with Issue 163 on April 15, this fundraiser has been extended to April 30!

Campaign Update: March 26

Since launching this campaign, we've been deeply heartened and encouraged by the support of our communities. Here's an update on what this critical fundraising means for C:

— Our spring issue (C163 Chorus) will be released on schedule in mid-April. This cost has been factored into our current financial position, ensuring sufficient funds to pay contributing artists, writers, contractors, editors, and other staff until then

— C163 marks the launch of our print redesign, made possible by Ontario Creates project grant funding received in 2024, which could not be used towards operations. Long-term sustainability was a priority: this redesign effectively lowers printing costs by 30% without sacrificing content

— Due to timing changes in multi-year grant funding, we face an immediate cash-flow issue through the next few months. If we are unable to fill this gap, we are prepared for structural alternatives (including staffing changes and delaying issue C164 Filth) to address the shortfall until the next wave of grant funding in the fall.

We believe in the project of C and will find a way forward as stewards of the magazine have done since 1983. To everyone who’s donated so far: thank you. We also appreciate our many supporters who purchased or renewed subscriptions, and look forward to sharing the publication’s new look, sharpened by design director Hwa-Jin Jun, with everyone shortly. Make sure you're subscribed by April 1 to receive your copy of the newly redesigned C163 CHORUS!

A longer version of this statement is available on our website.

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Dear Reader,

C Magazine’s continued operation is at immediate risk. As one of the few remaining national arts periodicals, we need your help.

With rising costs, the gaps between public granting cycles, and an overall decline in support for independent publishing, C is at a crossroads. In order to maintain C’s operational integrity, we’re setting a critical fundraising goal of $80,000 by April 15. This is crucial to maintain our baseline staff, contributor, and production needs for the next few months. Otherwise, after supporting thousands of artists, writers, editors, interns, and advertisers over the years, C faces the prospect of imminent closure.

For more than 40 years, C Magazine has been an essential platform for responsive and informed perspectives on contemporary art in Canada and beyond. C connects readers to new and culturally urgent voices that shape how we perceive and experience art in an ever-changing world, including major social and ethical concerns. This is an inheritance and a responsibility that directs all of the work we do.

We appeal urgently and directly to you—C’s readers, supporters, contributors, colleagues, and everyone in the broader art community who believes in the importance and future of independent art criticism and publishing in Canada—to donate generously.

We know this is a huge ask in a cultural space filled with precarity among our many peers, but if C was where you discovered an artist you love; if C gave you your first published opportunity or helped you and your community feel seen; if C has been a resource for your research or a sounding board for risk-taking ideas; if C has been a mirror to your questions, passions, frustrations, and provocations about art and its structures—your support right now matters more than ever.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Bryne McLaughlin, Executive Director and Publisher

Joy Xiang, Editor

C Magazine

Tairone Bastien, Tess Edmonson, Adrien Hall, Mary Kim, Henry Heng Lu, Kirstie McCallum, Johanna Mizgala, Janine Ramlochan, Justin Waddell, Natalie Waldburger, Sarah Wang, Jayne Wilkinson, and Viahsta Yuan

Board of Directors

C The Visual Arts Foundation