By Christine Sloan Stoddard

Here's a video I was recently asked to make for Authority Magazine—and my "things" don't just apply to mural-making!

By The Editors

​While the COVID-19 pandemic has hit artists, especially performing artists, hard, it hasn't stopped some people from finding creativity amidst the chaos. Meagan J. Meehan, a New York City-based writer, is one of those people. Meehan has written everything from journalistic columns to poetry, and has even started to work in toy and game design. Recently though, Meehan came out with a theatrical play, "Soul to Squeeze."

"Soul to Squeeze" sees a devil and an angel fighting over a soul in a ridiculous comedy that can help bring some much needed light-heartedness in these times. 

Quail Bell Magazine recently spoke with Meagan J. Meehan about "A Soul to Squeeze" and what creating has been like during the pandemic.

By The Editors

For the first time, we have a reading challenge and everyone is invited to participate! The topics chosen reflect a mixture of comfort zones as well as an exploration of new genres without being too intimidating to take on! Refer to the image above (which is shareable!) or the text below for the list. Remember to tag us on social media to share what you are reading and look out for recommendations from the crew!

By Leah Mueller

Christmas, 2001. I was a recently single mom with two kids and a dilapidated house in Tacoma, Washington. The once shabby town had undergone rapid gentrification. Now, the handwriting on its wall read, “We’re going to force your impoverished ass out as soon as we can.”
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By Alexander Rinaldi

​The world has changed vastly over the past few decades. We have seen the rise of the computer and the smartphone, the proliferation of streaming services and algorithms that determine what we like and what we should see, and the entrance of what can only be seen as a Digital Age.

By Alex Carrigan

​T.S. Eliot once opined "This is the way the world ends / Not with a bang but a whimper" in his poem "The Hollow Men." Normally, in fiction about the end of the world, it usually ends in fire, nuclear blasts, disease, famine, or something else that makes it quite a bang and not a whimper. Of course, Eliot's quote can refer more to the death of the world as more quiet in a grand cosmic scale, but what if society were to collapse in such a slow, quiet way? What could that look like?

By Gretchen Gales

Earlier in the year, I published an article about an inclusive art center using identity-first language. When my article went live and was posted to various social media platforms, I expected at least a few negative comments. One commenter mentioned an interviewee’s tie was too short. For a while, I was pleasantly surprised that was the sole complaint. 

But that’s when I saw it.
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By Alexander Rinaldi

At the beginning of the pandemic, one thing that I saw many people talk about was how Shakespeare wrote King Lear during the Black Plague. I firmly believe that everyone who was sharing that had never tried to write creatively in their entire lives.

Small businesses are all around us and while we should aim to support them year round, it can feel especially meaningful during the holidays as an opportunity to give unique and unusual presents.
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If you’re doing gifts this year, ditch the Amazon wishlist and opt to support one of these 8 independent businesses instead. I’ve thrown in the scores I would/have bought from each store for the people on my own list, keeping all suggestions at around $50 or less.

By Miranda Dennis