from the editor
What is sacred?
Paris, a city known for romance and beauty,
was in the international spotlight for an entirely
different reason - terror attacks and the world
responded with “Je Suis Charlie.”
As artists, we face a challenging reality.
Will our expression of art and opinion cause
unrest, discomfort, spark violence, shed light
on insecurity, surface suppressed feelings? Do
we want it to evoke those emotions?
Terrorism is something I do not understand.
Even if we stand on opposite ends of the
spectrum on any number of issues (and there
are a lot of “hot buttons” and “hot topics”) I
still cannot, and will not, accept that someone
should be killed for his or her perspective.
Do you feel it’s okay to express hot topics
via satire? Is it okay to joke about someone’s
religion ... until they discuss yours? For me,
I think context matters. Is something used to
incite hate or violence toward a people? If so
then I’d say that art or expression may need a
suitable place. What is a safe and suitable place
if the world is on the internet? Our borders are
crossed so quickly and easily through the web.
Conversations can escalate by a few characters
of a tweet.
the mind and soul, art that brings communities
together or surfaces awareness of an issue is
powerful and should be commended.
In our magazine we welcome artist’s
opinions about their religion, about society and
about a number of issues that may not often
get discussed. We hope your emotions stir
while viewing the art because art IS emotional.
Art affords us the opportunity to listen to all of
the voices in our soul and piece together our
own conclusions about a piece of art. We may
all view the same art but may also all view it
differently.
Terrorism was an awful way to have the
new year be