Editors' Note: Natalie T. Chang '15 and Erica X Eisen '16

Dear readers,

We’re happy to present the Arts Year in Review issue of 2014: continuing a practice started by last year’s Arts Chairs, we used the results of a campus-wide survey to rank the year’s best movies, music, books, theater productions, and more. Turn to page 3 to see our takes on the highest-ranked movies and albums; turn to page 8 to see the general breakdown.

The mission of the arts board has always been to train our writers, inform our community, and offer cultural commentary on the creative projects of our time: we’ve always felt thankful to have the opportunity to both report and critique. We’d like to think we succeeded in those goals this year, as a vast number of well-written, well-researched, and eloquent pieces have gone through us, and we’ve proudly watched our contributing writers and staff members become experienced and confident journalists. Our online content has become both more consistent and more sophisticated, and our print magazine remains both aesthetically appealing and easy to read. We’re particularly happy with some of our cover stories, especially those on the reopening of the Harvard Art Museums, Boston public art, and data visualization.

As our tenure as Arts Chairs comes to an end, we’d like to take the chance to thank all of our execs, writers, and compers for working hard all year; our designers and photographer for helping us present our content in the best way possible; and the Managing Editor and President for working with us to ensure the quality of our publication. We’d also like to congratulate Abby L. Noyes ’16 and Grace E. Huckins ’16, next year’s chairs. We’re sad that our terms are ending, but we know we’re leaving the arts board in good hands.

And of course, we’d like to thank you, the readers, for your ongoing interest in our features, reviews, columns, and more: we’re proud to have written, edited, and directed this publication for you. We hope we have, at the least, encouraged you to engage critically with the subject to which we return: art.

With gratitude and relief,

Natalie T. Chang and Erica X Eisen