DU is known for its intelligent population of athletes, academics, activists and philanthropists, but DU’s visual and textual magazine, “Foothills,” targets a group sometimes forgotten: the musicians, the writers and the artists.
“Foothills,” an annual magazine encompassing visual art, music and a variety of writing including prose and poetry, compiles creative content from DU undergraduate students. Anyone who is an undergrad student at DU can submit—there aren’t any further restrictions for admission.
“I don’t remember how I heard about Foothills, but I knew I had some work I wanted to submit to the local newspaper,” said Zoey Roswold, a first-year student from Chicago who submitted art to Foothills. “I know that the magazine is a hub for art and other artistic past times, such as poems and other creative literature.”
The process begins in the fall, when the magazine opens for submissions. Submissions then close near the beginning of winter quarter, during which the editorial staff (a team comprised of 15 students) reads each submitted piece. The selected works are then all compiled by the visual staff, which arrange severything into the actual magazine itself. Finally, everything is sent to the printer, and “Foothills” is complete.
“This year’s issue contains a music section,” said Kayla Coburn, a senior English major from Colorado Springs and this year’s Editor-in-Chief of “Foothills”. “So, we’re still celebrating the prose, poetry and visual art that students are creating, but the open mic nights have been very popular on campus, so we thought we would like to include some of the musicians in ‘Foothills.’”
Each year, a theme is chosen for the magazine. “Off on a Tangent” is the theme for this year’s magazine, and will feature kaleidoscopic visual components. Adherence to the theme is not required for submissions, but it is encouraged that the individual keeps interpretations of the theme in mind.
“We kind of collaborated over the summer,” added Coburn. “Ashlyn [Stewart] and Katherine [Gibson] really thought they could do something cool with their design of the book with ‘Off On a Tangent.’”
Both Stewart and Gibson are design editors for Foothills.
This year, staff also chose the top piece from each section, including visual art, music, prose and poetry. The winner of each section will be awarded a monetary prize of $100 for their work.
“I really enjoyed seeing all the pieces,” said Coburn. “We have very talented writers and artists, and I was very impressed with the quality.”
To celebrate the publication of “Foothills,” the magazine will be hosting a release party on May 20 in Driscoll Underground. Food, music and magazines will be provided. The party starts at 5 p.m. and will end around 8 p.m., and the winner of each section prize will also be announced. Contributors to this year’s magazine will additionally be presenting their accepted submissions. Anyone is welcome to attend, whether they submitted a piece or not; the only thing attendees have to bring is their dancing shoes. The magazine will also be available in the English office in Sturm on the fourth floor.
“Foothills, I think, has started becoming a presence on campus; more people are learning about it or hearing about it,” said Coburn. “In the past few years, not a lot of people knew what it was or that it was even here on campus. Last year, it became a presence on campus, and then I tried to maintain that or even increase it, and tried to do open mic nights each quarter. I hope in the next five years, that presence stays, so that these creative students can have an outlet to showcase their work.”
Interested in submitting work to next year’s edition? Email du.foothillsmagazine@gmail.com with any questions.
