One of the first things you’ll notice about this issue is that it’s almost twice as long as our last issue, featuring ten interviews instead of six (along with an essay and two reviews to boot). Because our list of people to interview hasn’t stopped growing since day one and is already quite long, we’ve wanted to feature as many artists as we possibly can in each issue.

Well, bigger doesn’t always mean better. As we’ve worked to put this issue together, we’ve realized that we bit off a little more than we could chew. In future issues we’ll be slimming back down to a more manageable five or six interviews an issue.

Why? As some of you already know, we just finished running our first contest (the results are in this issue). We’re going to do more of these. Lots more, hopefully. We’re also going to be publishing the winning submissions in special issues (probably in between regular issues) so that we can get more Mormon art out there. Since we’re effectively doubling our publication rate, our regular issues will need to be small enough that we can manage both.

We’re up to seventy volunteers now, but there’s still plenty of room. We particularly need editors, and especially those with experience. If you’re interested (in editing or in anything else), check out our new volunteer info page:

http://mormonartist.net/volunteer

The events area on our site has remained woefully empty to date, but we’re going to start adding content regularly so you’ll know what Mormon arts events are going on.

With all of the small changes and shifts with the magazine, we hope to keep getting closer to achieving our goals: getting the word out about what’s happening in the Mormon arts world, helping newer artists get launched in their careers, and showing that faith and art can work together in harmony, without compromising either. ❧