“Cultural pursuits no matter the stream feed the soul.”
Paula Fairweather
While working for a public gallery in Vancouver, an opportunity landed in Paula Fairweather’s lap to be a publisher for a visual art guide, connecting galleries, museums and artists in the Pacific Northwest.
For the past three years, Paula Fairweather has been at the helm as the publisher of Preview Magazine. She is delighted to be involved in MagsBC and feels that it was an excellent decision to join.
At Preview, her writers create articles about the ever-changing art scene, and her production team ensures all content gets into the magazine on schedule. Long lead deadlines are always a challenge for galleries and museums, as well as for Preview, but with effective and timely two-way communication, Paula has been able to bring clarity to what is possible.
Paula feels an overwhelming need to support the visual arts at this time. During the pandemic, Preview continued to publish in print and online, honouring the resilience and creativity of galleries and museums, who have found imaginative ways to illuminate hard-working artists and their creativity and share exhibitions.
Paula’s communication skills and engaging personality make you feel like you have met an immediate friend. She has fond memories of her childhood in the Okanagan, skiing, sailing, and playing the piano while growing up in a family of entrepreneurs. Her education at UBC included a Bachelor of Arts degree, followed by studies in business and marketing.
With over 20 years of marketing, communications and fundraising experience, Paula is no stranger to change, challenges and opportunities. Paula moved to Ottawa to develop a corporate sponsorship program for the Canadian Museum of Civilization (now the Canadian Museum of History). She then managed the corporate sponsorship program for the Canada Pavilion at the 1992 Universal Exposition in Seville Spain and did sales and marketing for a trilingual trade magazine, Oportunidad Canada-Mexico, launched in 1994.
In Cape Town, South Africa, Paula was on the 2004 Olympic Bid team, and developed a sales program for the BMW Pavilion entertainment complex. Later, in San Jose, California, Paula was involved with The Tech Museum of Innovation, and while there also did some tutoring. Back in Vancouver, she helped launch and establish the Bill Reid Gallery as their marketing director.
Although having worked in a variety of fields, Paula’s passion has always been in the arts. She would love to see more engaged readers both in print and online. She thinks that print magazines have an important niche in the market and are widely read, but inevitably there will be an increase in digital magazines.
Paula’s advice to anyone wanting to become a magazine publisher? Be prepared to adapt to change.
— By Sandra Waserman, freelance writer, February 18, 2021.
