The Hilltop Monitor isn’t the only publication dabbling in digital. Inscape, William Jewell’s art magazine, is expanding its reach this year by embracing new mediums and introducing two platforms for consumers to access. The publication, which was previously limited to print, plans to introduce a new digital interface this semester to host digital content, such as music; high resolution photographs; still shots of large scale artwork; videos of performances; and recorded readings of written works.
Stewart Duncan, senior, acts as the lead for the Art and Related Art Committee and a member of the Digital Planning team. Although the new content will add an additional element – and platform – to Inscape, Duncan assures past participants that the literary focus of the publication is still very much intact.
“We will publish both in print and online in a variety of formats. We’ll continue to print poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction and art on the cover. So the paper edition will absolutely still exist, but we’re also opening up the online portal so that we can have creativity that doesn’t just exist frozen in time.”
Lexie McDanel, senior and Inscape managing editor, commends the students, who come from several different departments, for their diligence and drive.
“As a staff, I think that one of our greatest challenges has been the issue of balancing the shift to a more inclusive creative medium, our website, while still maintaining our roots as a printed literary magazine. As William Jewell College embraces new technologies, the ways in which we express ourselves changes as well. We believe that by having a website in addition to our printed copy, we will be able to continue the printed tradition of Inscape, while also offering an easily accessible website that can include other creative expressions,” McDanel said.
McDanel is excited to share the Inscape team’s work with the Jewell community and encourages all interested students to apply.
“I would have to say that this web-print hybrid issue has proved to be one of our most triumphant successes because we are providing an opportunity for us to critically discuss how technology can improve the creative arts. The addition of a website provides a platform for a wider variety of creative arts and allows Jewell students to be easily and actively engaged in multiple ways, as both readers and artists,” McDanel said.
The digital planning team has constructed a centralized submission portal through with students can contribute.
“Anyone with a creative work can contribute; it is not a competition. We are not looking to determine what is good art – Inscape simply aims to be a new, diverse, rich, cross-disciplinary and engaging outlet for Jewell. There’s not limit for what we’ll take into consideration. That’s the beauty of it all,” Duncan said.
Interested students can visit the new website and submit their work no later than Saturday, Feb. 14.