Re: Starting an article . . . edit

Hello --

I have attempted to start an article named Stephen Nowlin. I am Stephen Nowlin, and I surmise from the obstacles I've encountered that autobiographical articles are viewed by Wikipedia with some suspicion and some hurdles meant to filter out those attempts not meeting Wikipedia's standards of "notability." I think I may be sufficiently notable, but in either case need advice on how to proceed or not.

I am a curator of contemporary art who forges collaborations superimposing art and science. I am Vice President, Director of the Williamson Gallery at Art Center College of Design, an internationally-known private college located in Pasadena, California. My work has been verified by numerous independent publications including the Los Angeles Times, ARTnews Magazine, and publications and journals by universities such as Caltech and Claremont Graduate University. I am also an author of essays on the so-called international "ArtScience" movement that have been featured in independently published media. A Google index of links to various such sources is located at http://williamsongallery.net/google .

From reading your various guidelines, it is unclear to me if meeting the threshold of notability is adequate to move forward in the process of creating an article about myself, or whether an article describing my own work is absolutely prohibited, even if the subject is deemed notable. Could you please clarify?

I will appreciate any advice you can provide.

Many thanks, Stephen Nowlin

ArtSciProject (talk) 00:57, 12 July 2013 (UTC)Reply

Hullo! WP:AUTO refers. Autobiographical articles are strongly discouraged on Wikipedia because most people are strongly invested in their own lives and biased toward themselves. This makes it very hard to be neutral and objective when writing about the subject. Most autobiographies contain a positive bias, original research and are written from a specific point of view. None of these things are in accord with Wikipedia's aim to present information in a neutral and objective manner. If you are a notable person then an article will be created about you by a third party. If that article is inaccurate, you can correct it via the help desk - don't attempt to do so yourself! Please also remember that it is open to being edited by anyone at any time - the article may be about you but it does not belong to you. I can really only encourage you to live your life in the best way that you can. In doing so, you may become notable and then the subject of an article at Wikipedia. Focussing on a fulfilling life is far better than attempting to create an autobiographical article. (aeropagitica) 15:56, 13 July 2013 (UTC)Reply