By The Editors

We're ecstatic to see Monique Quintana's review of our founder Christine Sloan Stoddard's book, Water for the Cactus Woman, in Luna Luna Magazine today. Here's how it begins:

By The Editors

Brrr!! Are you hibernating? It's time to get out of the house! Insight Magazine, run by Fokus, the NYC-based non-profit empowering 18-29 year-olds through creativity, is having a party in Brooklyn on January 26th. This publication, which we recently mentioned in our feature on Cheryl Lee Bowers, is turning 14 years old. Here's an excerpt from Fokus's email invite:

By M. Alouette

In some ways, I live large. Those tend to be the ways that don't cost money. In most other ways—the ways that involve services and material goods—my life is much humbler. I am middle class and earn the median income for my area, which is predominantly lower-middle class in a very expensive city. I have no debt in large part because I live within my means. I'm also lucky to be in relatively good health and to have no serious accidents or catastrophes. Or least nothing recently. Everything really bad is far enough in the past that I've been able to re-build and move on. Again, I'm lucky. But I've made some of my own luck; with that luck comes guilt. I'm frugal in most realms and I prioritize my spending, which means I cannot always buy the most ethical products. To have control over my financial security, I buy all of my cosmetics and toiletries at the dollar store. I don't deny myself my self-care rituals. I just groom and primp on the cheap. If I regularly bought department store, organic store, and salon brands, I would not have the level of financial security that I have now. ​​I'd probably have credit card debt. After all, the average U.S. household has almost $7,000 worth of credit card debt. That could just as easily be me. With that debt, I couldn't honor my civic duties to the extent I do now.

By The Editors

We're always hearing about rad art events in Philly and Pittsburgh, so it's encouraging to hear when other parts of Pennsylvania have their own exciting happenings. One on our radar right now is "Tear It Down," an art exhibition featuring Latinx artists at The Alternative Gallery in Allentown. That includes our previously featured painter/photographer Helen Sánchez Stoddard. Here's the official language describing the gallery's open house for the show on January 31st:
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​By Caitlin Morris
Capital News Service

RICHMOND, Virginia — Hundreds of political activists from across Virginia gathered in Richmond on Monday to lobby in favor of driving rights for immigrants, a higher minimum wage and voting rights for felons.
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By The Editors

We hope you spent last night gazing at (or at least glimpsing) the Super Blood Wolf Moon! Writer and artist Nicole Clatterbuck, who lives in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley region, was kind enough to let us run a few of her photos of the eclipse. She says, "Yeah, I was out there....from the ascending until about 1:45 a.m. when I was no longer sure whether or not I had fingers. I wish I'd had a bigger lens, but no matter...it was such a beautiful experience regardless! I mean was [it] glorious or what!?" Yes, yes, it was!

By Kaytlin Nickens
Capital News Service

RICHMOND, Virginia — With art, music, dance and spoken word, a national organization that fights injustice is holding a two-day event in Richmond to reflect on the history of slavery in Virginia and to promote racial reconciliation.
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By Kripa Radhakrishan

Editors' note: The following is an essay that stemmed from an email Q&A with the Indian artist Kripa Radhakrishnan, who is now a graduate student in New York City.

​The Unheard Voice is a collaboration between 3D sculpture and performance art. The creative process included the development of a concept, visual imagery, and performance. I have formal training in Indian Classical Dance that contributes to my sense of a narrative approach of storytelling in my painting, sculpture and performance art. That training informs my decision-making in the positioning of the figures in my works. Using that vocabulary, I narrate the stories I share through figurative drawings, colors, found materials, proverbs, and poems. I make artworks which eliminate caste, religion and cultural identity in the physical appearances of the figures in my art. The sounds that I generate from my vocal cords, my dramatic body movements with highly emotional facial expressions, and the variety of found materials I incorporate all work together to create dramatic ambiance in this piece. I have incorporated found materials and ghungroo (a musical anklet tied to the feet of classical Indian dancers) in my performances. My interdisciplinary works strive to evoke an emotion or thought process connected to themes of women’s oppression and survival. The Unheard Voice suggests new visual possibilities when combined with dance. 
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By The Editors

It sounds fake—and honestly like the perfect start of a novel—but there's going to be a Super Blood Wolf Moon tonight! This will be the only total lunar eclipse we will get all year. Only those in North and South America can enjoy the full effect. So why the name? Per NASA: "super' because the Moon will be closest to Earth in its orbit during the full moon (more on supermoons here) and “blood" because the total lunar eclipse will turn the Moon a reddish hue." The beginning of the total lunar eclipse will occur at 11:41 p.m. EST, with the most dramatic moment set for 12:12 a.m. EST.

In honor of tonight's spectacular event, we wanted to bring you an illustration by artist Steven John Fuchs of Arlington, Virginia. The illustration depicts the artist and his son David observing the lunar eclipse in 2000. Learn more about Fuchs at StevenJohnFuchs.com and check out his science fiction graphic novel Soyuz Blue.

​Now go out and savor that Super Blood Wolf Moon!
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By Ghia Vitale

​Trumpy Bear is the most unfortunate stuffed animal I’ve ever encountered. Here are seven ways to successfully destroy Trumpy Bear in case the unthinkable happens to you. That is, Trumpy Bear comes into your real, off-screen life.