Arts & Ideas and The MV Times partner

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The publishers of the journal Arts & Ideas and The Martha’s Vineyard Times have formed a strategic partnership aimed at increasing the range and distribution of their creative and news content and establishing more cost-effective ways for Martha’s Vineyard advertisers to reach targeted readers and site visitors. There is no change in ownership or the editorial independence of the partners. Patrick Phillips, creator and publisher of Arts & Ideas, and Peter Oberfest, co-publisher of The Times, announced the venture this week.

In the announcement, Mr. Phillips, who first published his journal in 2011, described Arts & Ideas (A&I) as a “celebration of creativity and as a vehicle for increasing engagement among year-round and seasonal Vineyard residents and visitors.” The Martha’s Vineyard Times is a community newspaper with a weekly circulation of 13,000 to 18,000, a popular website, mvtimes.com, and publisher of specialized titles, including ArtS, and The Guide (new this summer), serving the entire Vineyard community, in print and digital formats.

Under the terms of the strategic partnership, Arts & Ideas will develop exclusive content for mvtimes.com, and both The Martha’s Vineyard Times and its Arts and new Guide publications. The Times will make editorial resources available to Arts & Ideas. And effective immediately, The Times’ advertising staff will develop a multi-venue package approach to deliver unusual advertiser value. In addition, The Times will join with Arts & Ideas in supporting the Arts*Island Festival first held in October 2012 and a series of cultural incubator projects now in development, Mr. Oberfest said.

In announcing the arrangement, Mr. Phillips said: “The Times reaches people. It’s in homes. It generates discussion. Access to ideas is central to the place we live, and this partnership gives A&I broad access to the community through The Times’ wide print and web readership. Couple this reach with The Times’ long-held commitment to the arts, and this partnership will serve our vibrant creative community and A&I’s print and web readership very well.”

“I’m a long-time admirer of Arts & Ideas for its subject focus and its devotion to quality and detail,” Mr. Oberfest said. “I also appreciate Patrick’s energy for expanding the influence of the creative community and the creative economy on Martha’s Vineyard.”