A new sweet tooth has come to town, but don’t be fooled. There’s no chocolatey center or sugary shell. Sweet Tooth is the name of a new publication that hit the streets of Baton Rouge this past week – and its pages are anything but sugar-coated. Sweet Tooth is a quarterly, ad-free, double-sided broadsheet with essays and editorials on the state of the local arts community. Editor and University alumna Erin Rolfs said she was inspired to start Sweet Tooth by the alternative press movement in the ’60s. “I liked the concepts of all these revolutionary presses that existed because traditional outlets weren’t cutting it,” she said. Unlike those traditional outlets, keeping the pages of Sweet Tooth ad-free liberates the publication from the concerns and opinions of advertisers, Rolfs said. “Sweet Tooth doesn’t have to worry about the effects of brutal honesty,” she said. “It’s what makes it kind of special.” Graphic design professor Paul Dean wrote an article for the current issue and designed the layout. He said he fittingly used the font Baby Teeth for the banner, which people might recognize from Sweet Tooth posters scattered around town. Only 500 copies were printed in the first run, so local coffee shops and restaurants may have already run out. But the content is available online. Rolfs said readers are encouraged to comment and discuss the articles online. Insightful commenters will be sought out to contribute to the final issue of the year in December. “I’d like to be surprised. I’d like to see someone who isn’t knee-deep in the scene who has something to say,” Rolfs said. Contributing writer and sculpture graduate student Mallory Feltz said Sweet Tooth hopes to attract people that aren’t familiar with the art scene. She said words are more familiar than a painting to most people, and the publication’s availability in coffee shops and restaurants makes it accessible to the public. Accessibility is just what the arts community of Baton Rouge has been missing, Feltz said. Sweet Tooth is the print branch of a larger organization called Culture Candy, a new Web site that – for the first time – converged scattered arts and event calendars into a single detailed calendar of happenings in the Baton Rouge arts community. Sweet Tooth is another step toward connecting artists and members of the community. Writer Britt King devoted space in the debut edition to the lack of communication in Baton Rouge arts. “Even art show receptions, which are generally very well-attended, seldom, if ever, lead to any noteworthy conversation,” King wrote. “They exist merely as social events.” Rolfs said going to an art show shouldn’t just be something people do to feel hip. “What does it mean if you can’t talk about it?,” she said. “People need to value the concept of what you do in art, not just how many people show up.” Like those voices at the council forums, Rolfs said criticism will ultimately only help those who want to be professional artists in the city. “The mode of production and quality of work is just going to get heightened from it,” Feltz said. But Rolfs said local artists sometimes feel trapped by the stereotype of the Southern painter. “You look at the South and Louisiana, and we have these staples like the magnolia and the hunting dog,” she said. “Artists here have aspirations that go beyond those stereotypes.” Sweet Tooth hopes to provide a solution for discontent and disconnected artists, Rolfs said. “I think a lot of artists shy away from doing anything really conceptual because they think people won’t get it,” she said. “We want to inspire people to speak their minds.” The publication debuted Friday night at the futuristic themed Sweet New Wave of the Future Dance Party at Hound Dog’s downtown. Rolfs said it was a silly get together to get over the fear of intelligent conversation. “You can’t take yourself too seriously,” she said. The rollerblade-wearing editor said she doesn’t ever want anyone to feel intimidated by art. “Just because we’re trying to engage in intelligent conversation doesn’t mean it’s above anyone’s head,” she said.
—-Contact Lauren Walck at [email protected]