A tradition returns this semester with the Mesa Visions art and literary magazine reaching completion.
On Dec. 10, the students of Honors English 249 held a ceremony to honor all the winners of the poetry and short story contest and celebrate the completion of the book.
English professors Wendy Smith and Jennifer Cost, the coordinators and instructors of the class, were thrilled when they opened the box of the magazines and saw their students’ work.
“Students really value this magazine, and now we have an example to show our students’ work,” Smith said.
Last year, they thought it would be a great idea to update the magazine since the last issue was in 2001. They saw how City College runs the publication of their magazine as a class and sent a proposal to the District Honors Program to set up a similar class at Mesa.
Also, a tradition at Mesa is the short story and poetry contest in the fall. The short story contest has been held for the past 30 years, and the poetry contest has been done for 22 years, according to Chris Sullivan, the English Department Chair.
In 1997, Sullivan got together with Pat Vine, the Art Gallery Coordinator, to collaborate on a magazine of the students artwork. Unfortunately, budget cuts in 2000 had made this hard to fund.
“It is really fun to see this coming back. It’s really nice to see what the students have to offer,” said Sullivan.
There were first, second, and third place winners for the poetry and fiction stories in the contest, and winners’ works were put in the magazine. Students’ artwork were also included in from other classes and the 249 English honors course.
Stephanie Crane, who is the artist of the Untitled piece in the magazine, was excited to hear that her creation from a graphic design class she previously took made it into the magazine. She painted two of the middle pictures, made copies of the other four, and was able manipulate and combine them into a new, single piece.
A student from the course, Emily Vizzo, thought the class would help her improve her writing style and took the class for fun. She won second place in the poetry contest and was happy with her decision of taking the class.
“It is a project-based class, and everyone helps each other by critiquing everyone’s work,” said Vizzo.
Kathleen O’Neil, 79, another student of the class, had taken her last English class in 1947 at Oregon State University. Her friend told her about the class but ended up dropping it. Knowing how much work there needed to be done, O’Neil stuck through it and was happy to be part of Mesa Visions.
Smith and Cost hope to expand the magazine and add a non-fiction competition.