OutBoise Magazine April 2016 | Page 6

6  |  OutBoise Magazine  | NEWS OutBoisemag.com | Issue 18 | April 2016 Publisher’s Corner Artists and Allies. Every month, the OutBoise staff sits down to discuss what our next issue is going to be about. With each month, we try our best to make sure we do something new and different. We want to keep it interesting, and we want to feature as much of our community as possible. Art has been on our to-do list for quite a while. We feel that Art gives people an opportunity to express themselves, and inspire others. Whether it be to inspire someone to take on their own mission in creativity, or an emotional response that helps them connect to something, or someone, in a way they never have before. With the birth of the Queer Art show at the Lucky Dog Tavern, our staff has had the opportunity to meet some talented individuals in the past 9 months. So, when the opportunity came for us to dedicate an issue, specifically to Art, artists, and creativity, we jumped on it. We began approaching artists who have had the opportunity to be a part of Queer Art, and asked if they would like to be featured in our magazine. That’s when I got the phone call from Chris Bidiman, Executive Director at ALPHA(Allies Linked for the Prevention of HIV and AIDS). Bidiman asked, since we were planning on doing an art issue, if we could ask the artists we were going to feature if they would be willing to contribute a piece of art to Forever Red, ALPHA’s annual awards ceremony and fundraiser. The responses we received were incredible. We had so many people willing to contribute, and yet, very little time get people on the roster for this issue. In fact, there are several more artists who plan on contributing to the art auction at Forever Red who aren’t featured in this month’s issue. In this issue, you will find many talented artists, and allies who are working to help our community a better place. We are proud to partner with ALPHA on this edition, and we’re excited to see how Forever Red will go May 1st .We hope you enjoy this issue! Forever Red will be held Saturday May 1st at Beside Bardenay. You can find more details on the on the next page! Thank you,