Prospectus:
Who would have thought a year ago that the world would come to a standstill because of a pandemic? A year later, Covid-19 or Coronavirus is still here, and we are working to go back to a life that would be deemed post-pandemic normal. This once in a century pandemic is a phenomenon that has touched our lives profoundly and we feel that this period needs to be documented, along with our community’s response to it.
We plan to document this response to the pandemic by initiating a project that invites the community to share their art and stories, and then publish those online, as well as, in a physical book. We invite EPCC students, faculty and Staff & El Paso / Cd. Juarez border communities to bring their individual and collective experiences of the pandemic, and translate that into artistic representation.
We seek to advance academic achievement through the arts because the arts engage in ways that are not accessible in other disciplines. Creating this public display online and as a book so that students, faculty and staff can create a shared dialogue and record about surviving the global pandemic. We are particularly hopeful that the unique experience can act as mosaic of the borderland community and will serve as a historical and archival record as well as a future teaching tool.
NOTE: Writers and artists from other parts of the world can still submit their work on our website but those works will be represented in our digital presentation for the global community and not for this specific project.
Eligibility: EPCC students, faculty and Staff & El Paso / Cd. Juarez border communities
Project: Call for an open submission to collect the work of the artists and the writers. The submitted work will be curated and published in a physical book and will be displayed online.
Entries will only be accepted online through https://www.lifeinthetime.com/submit (Entry Fee: Free)
On Entry Form, please select both the choices:
✓ I have read and accept the submission guidelines (for online submissions -- ongoing)
✓ I’m submitting this work for the EPCC publication (for local writers/artists only)
Important Dates:
Open Submissions: March 22, 2021 to April 30, 2021
Entry Deadline: April 30, 2021
Artists will be notified of acceptance: June 30, 2021
Project completion: September 15, 2021
Contact : Richie D. Marrufo (rdmarrufo@gmail.com)
ARTWORK ENTRIES
Each artist can submit up to two pieces of work -- artwork or photograph. No more than one work will be selected. Images must be of the actual, completed artwork and must be uploaded digitally with a resolution of 72 dpi. Upon acceptance, we will contact you later for a high resolution image (300 dpi approx) for the printed publication.
Please Include Artwork Information : Media(what the artwork is made of), Dimensions (size of the art work) and the year the artwork was completed.
Please provide an Artist statement describing the subject matter of the work (200 char max).
Also, please provide a Bio (25 char max). We recommend something unique about yourself.
Terms and conditions: The artist agrees to all terms and conditions listed in this prospectus. We reserve the right to use the work for publicity and educational purposes. We reserve the right to reject entries if it doesn’t meet our guidelines.
WRITING ENTRIES:
We accept works of Fiction/ Non-fiction/ Poetry in English and Spanish.
Each writer can submit up to two pieces of work, and no more than one will be selected.
Please upload the file on our form. The total word count is 500 words max. Use black, 12-point, Times New Roman as the font; set alignment to left justified.
Please provide a Bio (25 char max). We recommend something unique about yourself.
Terms and conditions: The writer agrees to all terms and conditions listed in this prospectus. We reserve the right to use the work for publicity and educational purposes. We reserve the right to reject entries if it doesn’t meet our guidelines.
Disclaimer: El Paso Community College or BorderSenses will not retain, receive or mediate a commission on any work that is viewed online or published in the physical book.
Jurors: This virtual exhibition and book will be juried by a panel of artists and writer experts, who will consider the originality, design, technique, and craftsmanship of the submitted works.
Juror Bios (Alphabetical):
Amit Ghosh is the co-founder, Executive Director (Interim), and Board President of BorderSenses, a literacy arts organization that has been serving the border community and beyond for twenty years. BorderSenses has been involved with the publication of the BorderSenses literary magazine, and many other literary projects such as Memorias del Silencio, ForWord, and Barbed Wire Open Mic Series. Amit was also a faculty in Information Systems at UTEP, and currently runs his technology company, Bright Sol Tech. Although he hails from places far away, the border sings to him no other place has, and he finds the magic of this land truly inspirational. Amit dabbles in poetry and fiction, and he believes in the power of words and arts in healing and creativity.
Raquel Mejia is a bilingual poet and literary curator for events and anthologies. She participated in “Poetry is like Bread Ghazal #7” on YouTube from the Bowery Poetry. Raquel works within lifeinthetimes project dedicated to archiving 2020 pandemic stories, poetry and art. As a panelist on Dignidad Literaria she discussed Latin writers and the publishing industry. Raquel also co-curating the Tumblewords Project's El Paso portion for the poetry night of the bi-national interactive art installation, Border Tuner, a project by internationally renowned artist Raphael Lozano-Hemmer. She collaborated on the writing of the play Escape from Tornillo from the Tornillo collective. Raquel’s work has been published and has performed her work in the US & Mexico in many venues including libraries, museums, high schools, cultural centers, and the Smithsonian Virtual Museum. Each year, Raquel presents a special writers workshop focused on everything related to Día de los Muertos or Day of the Dead.
Maria Miranda Maloney is an author, publisher, editor, journalist, and educator. Her poetry and essays have been anthologized and published in national and international literary journals. She is the founder and editor of Mouthfeel Press, a bilingual press serving the borderlands communities and beyond. Under her direction, the press has published over 20 titles and won international and national awards. She is the educational outreach coordinator for the Smithsonian Latino Center Digital Dia de los Muertos festival in Washington D.C. and served as poetry editor for BorderSenses, and board member of the organization. She served as a member in the advisory board of the Con Tinta National Latino Writers Collective and helped curate the yearly NaPoMo. Her numerous panel presentations focus on publishing, writing as activism, and preserving Latinx presence and stories in the publishing world. Maria has a MFA in Bilingual Creative Writing from the University of Texas at El Paso and is certified as a secondary teacher in Texas. This year, she will be teaching creative writing at Truman University in Missouri.
Richie David Marrufo is an educator, MC, project director, show host, musician, and spoken word poet. He is the current Project Director of The Barbed Wire Open Mic Series, a BorderSenses project. He works as a writer and editor for the film production studio Power at the Pass where he also produces and hosts The BWOMS Podcast and Literally Literary - A Book discussion podcast. During the pandemic, he has kept performance spaces alive via live online sessions called The Stay at Home Open Mic. Richie has performed in unique shows and venues throughout the Southwest and has conducted various writing workshops within the city for people of all ages. He is an advocate for the creative voices of the community and the support of local artistic endeavors. From playing music on street corners and mountaintops to speaking in front of classrooms, Richie is happy to share his love for music, poetry, and improvisation with others.
Isadora Stowe is a New Mexican based multimedia artist whose work focuses on the narrative of environment translated and coded into complex psychological landscapes. Stowe grew up in the southwest border region, living and working in New Mexico, Texas and Mexico. She credits these experiences for providing a heightened awareness of geographical and political boundaries; and a fascination with the exploration of identity of self and the construction of home in her work.
Stowe earned her BFA in Painting with a double major in Cultural Anthropology, minor in Native American Studies and a MFA in Painting and Drawing. She exhibits her work widely and is represented in many collections across the country and in Mexico. She has been the recipient of several grants, scholarships and awards for her work, including an Award for Excellence from the New Mexico Committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts. In addition she serves on many local and national committees and boards of directors, and is an assistant professor of Art at El Paso Community College, TX. More of her work and process can be viewed on her website: www.isadorastowe.com.
