C A N N O P Y
Art is True North
Call for Submissions:
Issue 12GETHERNESS
Submissions and Pitches
smART Magazine is now accepting submissions from writers, illustrators, and photographers to collaborate with for Issue No.12. Wherever you are in the world, we want to hear stories about what’s exciting you in the visual and performing arts. We’re taking submissions and pitches for stories and artist interviews. Reflecting our editorial motto - GLOBAL COVERAGE, LOCAL PERSPECTIVES - we are seeking to publish bold, passionate writing that captures what you see in the artists that inspire you.
Issue 12GETHERNESS is all about community. In this issue we are scavenging for art and artistic experiences that combat the pervasive alienation we’ve been feeling since the pandemic (and probably a lot longer). Who’s out there using art to forge connections, or even create productive conflict? We want to find out about communities, collectives, cabals, and fruitful collisions. The mission of this issue is to remind our readers that: your team is out there waiting for you. We’re looking for submissions that combine this theme with the various editorial sections below.
Please email submissions to submit @ smartbylighthouse.com, with the following subject line format:
Your name | [Section you’re submitting to] | Issue 12
DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS/PITCHES: MAY 30TH
Pitch and Submission format:
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Pitches (100 words or less, including links and social handles where appropriate) can include your personal connection to the pitch/why you find the story compelling.
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Please write pitches in the body of the email.
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Feel free to include 1-3 links to prior publications that you feel represents your voice. (Note: smART Magazine is also interested in being your first publication).
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A strong preference is given to pitches and submissions that highlight under-represented artists and communities, and/or brings attention to issues of equity and inclusivity within arts communities on the local and global scale.
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​For submissions of previously written pieces, contributors can review suggested editorial changes before accepting fees and publication.
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Editorial Sections
Each writer is invited to pitch 1 piece for each of the sections below, though more can be contributed depending on interest. We are open to featuring artists from a wide selection of genres and formats, with a preference for highlighting independent artists from marginalized/racialized populations. Length of coverage ranges from 100-word album reviews to 1,500-word features, with fees to be negotiated depending on scope.
For this issue, we’re interested in developing collaborative relationships with curious and talented writers. As well as working on your pitched article, we will also engage you for contributions to articles across the issue. Even if we don’t select your pitch, we may still wish to work with you and invite you on other projects. Our editorial team will help facilitate interviews and press passes, so we encourage you to be ambitious in your artist pitches.
PERFORMING ARTS
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If there’s an album or tour you want everyone to know about, we do too. Our core focus ranges from alternative music (alt-rock/pop/folk) to intersections with classical and jazz, but we are interested in artists that push boundaries in all genres.
VISUAL ARTS
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This section is organized as a makeshift gallery, featuring a curated selection of conversations with visual artists of all stripes.
ARTS & LETTERS
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This section features essays of various lengths on the main theme of this issue: community.
HOMEGROWN
This interview series profiles various Canadian artists, with a focus on how their body of work reflects and interrogates the Canadian music industry.
ALT.ITUDE
Alternative music is more of an attitude than a genre. It is a commitment to experimentation and to the investigation of where multiple genres converge. ALT.ITUDE is an intercontinental search for musicians that are wielding disparate musical traditions together to create novel expressions of uniquely modern sentiments.
HUBS & HUDDLES
While a large hub can be the rising tide that lifts all boats, the majority of artists in a community rely on the mid-level productions afforded by smaller operators. Surveying four creative industries to find five companies working at different levels, this series presents a close look at the history, mission, and personnel behind each ensemble.
IN MOTION
From large ensembles to dynamic duos, we’re looking for the dancemakers that move you and push the envelope of dance as an art form, in any genre.
ELLINGTON
Profiling jazz musicians across various levels or artistry, with a focus on jazz fusions.
FOURTH WALL
From lighting designers to seasoned stage actors, this series brings you in direct contact with the off-stage magic that makes the on-stage theatre magic possible.
THE smART ENSEMBLE
From soloists and quartets, to multidimensional composers and leading orchestras, THE smART ENSEMBLE is our dream team of movers and shakers in classical music on the global stage.
IN FOCUS
IF presents in-depth interviews with creatives in the film industry at all levels (actors, cinematographers, and acclaimed directors) alongside reviews of the latest cinematic releases.
MATERIALS
What’s it made of? How was it made? How do I interact with it? These are questions that will always be relevant to artistic creation. Despite the breakneck speed at which technology drives the evolution of artistic expression, the material reality of an artwork remains a source of fascinating questions and ingenious innovations. This series arrives at the nexus of inspiration and the mediums through which they are expressed.
SPACES
From the immersive, to the virtual, to the utterly unconventional, the concept of a gallery is rapidly evolving, and so too is the definition of space. This series explores the multi-various iterations of exhibit spaces, and the many contexts in which art can be displayed to the public.
STUDIO SESSIONS
The modern studio is a public place, it is an active and dynamic ecosystem of interconnected ideations, a panoramic window into every stage in the creative process. As the artist’s life outside of the gallery space is continuously expanding, there is a growing emphasis on how their complex persona intertwines with their creative output. This series focuses on the many ways an artist’s studio is constructed, and how their creative process is informed by their sociocultural and aesthetic consciousness.
ESSAYS
From short 100-word observations to feature length pieces, we’re looking for submissions that elucidate both why it’s so hard to establish community in our modern dynamics, and how art can facilitate togetherness. We’re open to personal accounts and reflections, as well as researched pieces that tackle this theme on a macro level.
POETRY
Submit a previously unpublished poem, of 20 lines or less, reflecting on either the dynamics of loneliness on an individual level, 2GETHERNESS (any type of connection between two people), or what it means to find your team (connection at the level of a community).
ILLUSTRATIONS
Compose a previously unpublished illustration for one page (8.5” x 11” jpeg/png), on the same criteria as the poetry submissions.
Notes​
We are also in need of assistance in transcribing and preparing pre-recorded interviews for publication - please indicate in your email if you are interested in contributing in this regard.
Issue 12 - our summer issue - is slated for June–July. Pitches should prioritize events, exhibits, albums, productions that fall within the Summer season. Pitches outside that timeframe may also be accepted for online articles, and may still be printed.