Edgar’s Media is a quarterly publication and bimonthly newsletter that supports the Midwest’s arts & culture through rigorous criticism and long-form writing. Each publication embraces design, with stunning images and thoughtful layouts. Based in Minneapolis, MN, Edgar’s goal is to amplify the ways we are connected — the people, creativity, and landscape.

Our bimonthly digital newsletter, Edgar’s Reports, offers curated event listings alongside mini-crits and tips.

Edgar's Index is your annual pocket guide to the wild, weird, and wonderful sites, arts, and small businesses of the Midwest. With blank pages for notes on favorite hikes, cafés, and upcoming shows, the Index is made for your studio table, your tote, or your glovebox.

Why Edgar's?

Minnesota's arts scene now outearns its farms, yet ask someone to name a Midwest art critic, and you'll likely get silence. There are arts journalists here doing vital work, but reporting what happened isn't the same as saying why it mattered. Covering one city isn’t covering a region. More and more publications are chasing clicks rather than supporting thoughtful, long-form writing.

Criticism doesn't judge art. It teaches people how to see it, giving audiences the language to engage rather than defer. Fran Lebowitz once warned about what's lost when that discerning audience disappears. Edgar's exists to build back audiences and networks: critics who live here, know the artists, and are willing to take a stand.

Our Business Model

Most arts and culture organizations are 501c-3 nonprofits — educational entities that accept donations, spend time on grants, and are often at the behest of their boards. Edgar’s chose a different path.

Edgar’s Media operates on a transparent for-profit model. We curate our advertisements, choosing to work with companies that reflect our values of sustainability, labor solidarity, and creativity from across the Midwest. We earn a profit from subscriptions, purchases, and limited advertising.

Subscriptions are embedded everywhere these days, but few offer little to show for it. We believe each print edition is like a mini-book, with articles that you’ll want to come back to or share.

As a transparent for-profit company, Edgar’s Media is against dark patterns, or marketing tactics that make unsubscribing difficult. Nor are we interested in dealing with third-party data tracking. We are currently exploring a sustainable subscription model that allows you to opt-out just as easily as you opted-in.

Where is the Midwest?

On the surface, this seems like a straightforward question with a reasonable answer. In reality, it depends on who you are asking.

Edgar’s Media defines the Midwest as the Upper Mississippi River Watershed region, including the Ohio and Missouri Rivers. We’re starting with the core of the Upper Midwest — Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

Our current growth plan:

• Year One: Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin

• Year Three includes Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota

• Year Five includes Arkansas, Colorado, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Tennessee

As we grow, it may seem like we’re including states outside the traditional boundaries of the Midwest, but they are locations entwined within our creative economies.

Topics Covered

Edgar’s Media is not your usual arts & culture magazine. Topics will include art galleries or off-Broadway productions. So too will be roadside attractions, state fairs, state parks, and tomato patches. We’re interested in the why as much as the “how” and “where.”

Who is Edgar?

Edgar's Media is named for Edgar Hoffmann, the founder's grandfather and a small-town barfly. His family immigrated from Luxembourg to Iowa and, eventually, Minnesota. He was inquisitive, resourceful, and deeply opinionated. Edgar didn’t suffer bullshit or fools and never claimed perfection. Like Eddie, Edgar’s Media believes critical thought is necessary to demonstrate support, value, and understanding. It’s this spirit the publication carries forward.