The Artist Commune Journal is an annual community arts publication that reconsiders accessibility in arts research and community engagement. Led by Urban Arts Space, the Commune hopes to feature work from artists within the Columbus community, arts organizations across Central Ohio, and arts-based researchers at The Ohio State University. By showcasing diverse voices and perspectives, we aim to cultivate a stronger sense of community and understanding within Columbus and beyond. 

Our community arts journal contains a collection of selected pieces that push the boundaries of how art is made, viewed, and understood. The forms of work can include arts research, essays, poetry, artwork, interviews, video/film, music/audio, comics, and community project/organization spotlights. 

The Artist Commune Journal is published annually both in print and digitally. Each yearly publication will be influenced by a theme. Artists must be able to make the argument that their pieces relate to the issue theme. 

We are excited to announce the release of our first issue of the Artist Commune Journal themed around Care | Culture | Justice. The issue features works from artists within the Columbus community, including visual art, personal essays, poetry, arts research, artist interviews, video/film, and community project spotlights. 

Copies of our first issue had a limited print run, but you can view the online version below.

Read the online version here!

Issue One Contributors: Ajanaé Dawkins, Arris' Cohen, Asher Pollock, Ayat Ibrahim, Breanne Eickholt, Dejiah Archie-Davis, Elaff Houmsse, Elizabeth Kolkovich, Erin Morgan Smith Glenn, Imara Regis, Jasmine Renee Parker, Jules Biller, Ky Smiley, Lydia Gokey, Mandy Shunnarah, Mina Ibrahim, Molly Davis, The Neighborhood Design Center (NDC), Raja Green, Robin Raven Prichard, Sayuri Matsuura Ayers, Sea Dax, Sydney Summey, Wendy Pramik, Wild Goose Creative

Through the Artist Commune Journal, Urban Arts Space invites you to explore the dynamic relationships between Practice | Praxis | Process and the interconnected ways we create, think, and transform through artistic work. 

Building on the foundation of our first issue, we seek submissions from Central Ohio-based artists, writers, academics, and community builders that examine how artistic practice becomes a form of critical engagement with the world, how theory transforms through lived experience, and how creative processes themselves become sites of learning, connection, and change.

Accepted artists will be awarded an honorarium of $150 for their submission, and Urban Arts Space does not charge a reading fee. The Artist Commune Journal will have a limited print edition as well as an online version. 

DEADLINE: October 15, 2025, 11:59 PM ET

Read the guidelines below and then submit your application through this form:

Submit Here

To learn more before you submit, join us for a virtual info session on Thursday, September 18 at 12:00 PM ET. We’ll walk you through our mission, first issue, and submission form, followed by an open Q&A.

Virtual Info Session RSVP

Theme: Practice | Praxis | Process

We invite submissions that explore the nature of how we create, how we apply our knowledge, and how we grow through creative work. This theme emerges from our understanding that artistic work is never just about technique or theory alone, but about the dynamic relationship between doing, thinking, and becoming.

Practice encompasses the daily work of creation and the skills we develop, the traditions we inherit and transform, the techniques we master and reinvent. It includes both the solitary moments of artistic development and the collaborative processes that emerge when we create together. 

A few possibilities: 

• A personal essay about an artistic technique you learned through trial and error
• A video showing an annual event your arts organization developed collaboratively with the community

Praxis speaks to the critical application of knowledge through action and how our creative work becomes a way of engaging with the world, challenging assumptions, and building new possibilities. It's where theory meets lived experience, where ideas become embodied through creative expression. 

A few possibilities: 

• A think piece about a workshop you hosted where you put arts-based research and academic theories into practice
• A poem that turns literary theory on its head

Process acknowledges that creation itself is a journey of discovery and the iterative development of ideas, the documentation of change, and the collaborative methodologies that emerge when we work across difference while honoring the unique contributions each person brings.

A few possibilities: 

• Behind-the-scenes photos of how you created a sculpture for a local garden
• An interview exploring the steps you took to bring an after-school arts program to life

What We're Looking For

• Cover art (please check the box on the form to be considered for this category—image must be vertical, ideally 7.5”x10”)
• Artwork (up to three pieces)
• Arts research (4,000 words max)
• Personal essays/think pieces/articles (4,000 words max)
• Poetry (up to three pieces)
• Fiction (4,000 words max)
• Comics (six pages max)
• Interviews
• Community project/organization spotlights (no limitations)
• Video/film (no length limitations)
• Music/audio (no length limitations)
• Multimedia collaborations with multiple artists (collectively one piece)
• Any combination of the above or other categories

You can read the digital version of our first issue to gain a better understanding of what we’re looking for, although we encourage you to think outside the box. Because each issue features a different theme, we will be looking for new types of pieces for each submission call.

Read Issue One

An accessible-friendly version of the online journal can be viewed here.

Submission Guidelines

We value…

• Original works of art that haven’t been published elsewhere.
• Work with a clear connection to the theme of Practice | Praxis | Process.
• Writing and creative work that is accessible while maintaining intellectual rigor.
• Perspectives that challenge conventional boundaries and expand understanding.
• Work that honors both individual creativity and collective wisdom.

Keep in mind that…

• The amount of available print space will be a consideration in the selection process, with shorter and mid-length pieces preferred.
• Applicants may submit only once per category but are welcome to submit different pieces across multiple categories.
• Recommended file types include .jpg, .png, .doc, .pdf, .mp3, and .mp4.
• Contributors from Issue One are not eligible to submit work to Issue Two.
• Artists will be asked to sign a contract, and payment will be rendered within ten months of publication through The Ohio State University system.
• If you are an Ohio State student or employee, you are welcome to submit, but you must check the box on the form to identify yourself as such. If your submission is accepted, this information will be needed far in advance to inform the Ohio State fiscal office of your university affiliation, or else payment may be delayed.

Our Review Process

Our review committee includes Urban Arts Space full-time staff, student interns, and Columbus community members. These are the steps in our review process:

1. On their own, each committee member reads the submissions and scores them out of twenty points according to the rubric below.
2. UAS staff members compile all the rubric scores into a spreadsheet to rank the submissions by their score average.
3. The committee meets to review the scores and determine how many pieces should be accepted based on their final scores and group discussion.
4. UAS staff members contact artists in December 2025 about whether their submission was accepted or declined. We try to ensure that every submitter receives a response so that you aren’t left wondering what happened to your submission. 

Rubric:

A. Quality and clarity of work and materials

B. Experimentation with how art is imagined, made, viewed, or understood

C. Breadth of community impact—fosters conversations and represents different perspectives

D. Alignment with journal theme of Practice | Praxis | Process

Rating Scale:                                               

1 = Not competitive

2 = Some merit

3 = Good

4 = Very good

5 = Excellent

Timeline

These dates are rough estimates based on the timeline for our first issue, but we will aim to follow them as closely as possible. Delays in the editing or design process might push back the launch date to later in the summer.

• Submission Window: August 20–October 15, 2025
• Sorting Submissions: October 15–20, 2025
• Committee Individual Scoring: October 20–November 15, 2025
• Decision Meeting: Week of November 17–21, 2025
• Final Decisions Sent: December 10, 2025
• Editing: December–January 2026
• Design: February–March 2026
• Final Proof: End of March 2026
• Launch: Last week of April 2026

Building Community Through Shared Work

As you consider contributing to this journal, we invite you to think about how your work participates in broader conversations about creativity, knowledge, and community building. The pieces we publish together will create a collective exploration of how artistic practice becomes a form of critical engagement with the world.

We're not simply documenting artistic work but actively creating conditions for transformative engagement that recognizes the power of art to build understanding across difference. Whether your contribution emerges from academic research, community collaboration, or individual creative exploration, we're interested in how it speaks to the larger questions of how we create, how we learn, and how we grow together.

Questions and Connection

The Artist Commune Journal exists because we believe in the power of shared inquiry and collective creativity. If you have questions about your potential contribution, want to discuss ideas, or need support in developing your submission, please reach out to us at uas@osu.edu.

The first two issues of the Artist Commune Journal are generously funded by a grant from the Global Arts + Humanities Discovery Theme as well as the College of Arts and Sciences Office of Engagement at The Ohio State University. These funds go toward paying contributors and printing high-quality copies of the journal to distribute for free to the local community, in addition to supporting marketing for each issue.