The deadline for FOLIO, a fine arts magazine produced annually by RBHS, is Feb. 13. Submissions can include any creative work, such as digital artwork or poetry, and are reviewed and selected for publication by the three student editors and art teacher Abigail Gorsage. To submit a work, students should send an email to [email protected].
Senior Reese Furkin, an editor for the magazine, said that she and the other editors, senior Sophie Froese and junior Saly Seye, began discussing the possibility of helping make FOLIO last school year with Gorsage when former teacher sponsor Gwen Struchtemeyer retired. Once the transition was planned, Furkin said the editors and Gorsage began discussing potential timelines last semester and are currently in the phase of collecting the works that will make up the magazine.
“Right now our submissions are open … so you can file them. And then, it’s a curated magazine, so we accept and deny submissions, so we have to go through those after we get them all,” Furkin said. “And then after that, it’s about cropping and positioning and making the magazine.”
This year is Gorsage’s first year organizing FOLIO, although she has given advice to students interested in putting forth their works in the past. One of these students, junior Charlotte Tolly, initially heard about FOLIO through Gorsage last year and submitted four paintings and one poem this year. Tolly said although she wasn’t sure about giving her works to FOLIO again at first, she’s loved the creative process that goes into the finished product and is “proud” to show the results of all her time and effort.
“I was initially hesitant to submit anything to FOLIO this year because I thought that my art had to be up to some imaginary caliber in order to show it,” Tolly said, “But with some encouragement from my friends and repainting I was satisfied with the pieces and wanted to showcase them.”
Gorsage said that one of the weak points of FOLIO has been the marketing and advertising of the magazine as “very few people know what it is.” Gorsage said she thinks every student who is interested should send their work in for consideration for FOLIO and hopes more people will participate in the future.
“I would tell students who are unsure of or intimidated by submitting to FOLIO that their work deserves to be seen by others,” Gorsage said. “The process of creating is so beneficial to the maker, but sharing that passion with others is just as important. It is what connects us, what has built and continues to build the world we know.”
While FOLIO is currently limited to just the magazine, Gorsage aims to expand its scope in future years. Gorsage highlighted the possibility of events, performances or student workshops linked to FOLIO that could help it go beyond being a fine arts magazine to give more students the ability to showcase their talents.
“Rock Bridge is home to so many talented, hard-working artists, in multiple capacities, and there are very few opportunities for those students to demonstrate the outcome of the skills they work so hard to grow,” Gorsage said. “FOLIO provides an opportunity for student artists to show their creative expressions to our Rock Bridge community. There is so much creative output that goes without the attention it deserves; FOLIO is a way to draw attention to these works.”
What’s your favorite part of FOLIO? Let us know in the comments below.
