Volume 2017 Parnassus

Letter from the Editor

The intensity of the word “skin” comes in its paradoxes. Clear and scarred, smooth and rough. All of humanity is covered by skin yet individual color is divisive. Skin provides a barrier between the body and the world but in its exposure is intensely vulnerable. Skin is self-healing but easily pierced. Going skin deep implies a shallowness if we’re working from the outside, in. But from the inside out, stepping out of our skin is a celebration of exposing that which is truest to our souls—the music that plays beneath our surface.

The submitted art revealed this music. Each unveiled piece speaking of the hesitant then celebratory dance between great pain and great joy. Thank you, fellow students, for the courage to be vulnerable. Parnassus 2017 wouldn’t be possible without this bravery.

It was my joy to work with a team of people committed to art and to story. They treasured the work of the artists who gave us glimpses of the inside of this campus. Thank you for meetings containing thought-provoking conversations and laughter.

One of my biggest privileges during my college experience has been the opportunity to interact with our advisor, Dr. Housholder. Thank you for your care for words and insight about art. You have continually been a comfort and an encouragement.

Finally, I want to thank you, reader, for engaging in our art. It’s intensely vulnerable to create anything, but it’s also vulnerable to enter into the space opened by an artist. As we do so together, I hope that the metaphor of skin becomes something that draws us into our humanity: a universal map of our shared story.