Art has been the Gazette's editorial page editor since 1980 and Opinion editor since 1990, when the newspaper launched its Sunday edition. A native of Long Island, Art served four years in the U.S. Air Force as a Russian linguist. After discharge he earned a bachelor's degree in Russian language and literature from SUNY Stony Brook and later, after a fling at law school and some graduate study in political science, a master's degree in information science from the University at Albany. Art has belonged to the National Conference of Editorial Writers and attended a number of its seminars through the years, on topics ranging from energy to nuclear disarmament to gerontology. This February he participated in a weeklong seminar on cities and smart growth as a fellow at the University of Maryland's Knight Center for Specialized Journalism. He has also won an honorable mention award from the New York State Associated Press Association for column writing. One of Art's most memorable days in the business was when he was at the White House with a group of editorial writers for a meeting with President Jimmy Carter and the accident at Three Mile Island nuclear plant happened.