Southwest Contemporary magazine is now accepting pitches for our Spring-Summer 2025 print issue—themed “The Hyperlocal.”
In a world that is increasingly networked and extremely online, and an art world that has often thrown shade on the “local artist” and the “regional” market, we choose to honor artists in the hyperlocal context.
Southwest Contemporary volume 11 will center local practices and micro-pockets of art activity across the Southwest region, and will feature artists whose work is rooted in hyperlocal conversations.
What does a hyperlocal artistic practice look like? The hyperlocal engages in deeply knowing a place. From rural to urban, neighborhood to artist colony—hyperlocal practices are embedded in communities. To engage at a hyperlocal level is to interrogate our connection to place, our stake in community. Rather than “legitimizing” hyperlocal art practices, we want to approach these practices on their own terms, with sensitivity, respect, and empathy.
Art historians Julia Silverman and Mary McNeil (Mashpee Wampanoag) explore the concept of “local as method.” They write, “The many valences of ‘the local’ are perhaps akin to a fabric: place intertwined with knowledge intertwined with method.”
We’re particularly interested in the spirit of collaborative invention that emerges from the hyperlocal context, where social webs are strong but other resources can be scarce. Artists working in this mode might exert influence on municipal politics, but they’re just as likely to be reshaping local health outcomes, education, or infrastructure. Or perhaps they’re engaged in aesthetic or conceptual innovation driven by locally derived materials, imagery, or narratives.
We believe that hyperlocal stories can have global relevance. Regardless of size or location, a hyperlocal practice can be a catalyst, spurring a ripple effect that has broader relevance. While national narratives often feel abstract, we witness the realities of lived experience—and remarkably scalable problem-solving—on the hyperlocal level.
Consider the questions:
- How are artists responding to their immediate environment and community?
- How do the conversations happening in local art scenes help us see the bigger picture?
- Do hyperlocal art practices help guide national and global discourse?
Types of articles we consider include:
- Reporting (1200–2000 words).
- Features (1200–2000 words).
- Creative essays (400–700 words).
- Studio visits/artist profiles (800 words).
- Interviews (500–2000 words).
- Cultural criticism (1200–2000 words).
- Short fiction (400–700 words).
- Experimental text-based works (~up to 2000 words).
- Food and drink/art-travel writing (1200–1500 words).
- Reviews (exhibitions reviews should be timely and therefore do not need to adhere to the theme) (300 words).
Pitch submission guidelines:
- Pro tip: Read our pitch guidelines before you submit!
- New to Southwest Contemporary? If you haven’t yet written for Southwest Contemporary, please share 1-2 writing samples in the “link” or “attachment” fields below. Writing samples need not be published.
- New to arts writing? You are invited to pitch! We seek a diverse range of voices, perspectives, and rhetorical styles. We believe both established and aspiring writers are capable of making valuable contributions to SWC, and our goal is to empower each writer to hone their writing skills and cultivate their own unique voice.
- If your pitch is accepted and SWC commissions a story, you can expect to work closely and collaboratively with arts editor Natalie Hegert throughout the editorial process.
- Fees: All contributors are compensated and articles commissioned for print will be paid according to article length and type (essay, feature, review, etc). The fee will be agreed upon at the time of commission, and typically range from $100 to $500.
- You are welcome to submit more than one pitch, but please make a separate submission for each story idea.
Call for artists:
Artists are invited to submit their work for inclusion in this issue here.
Timeline:
- Deadline for Hyperlocal print pitches: October 25, 2024.
- Deadlines for drafts: fall between December 2 and January 2.
- Issue published: March 2025.