Northwestern State University offers a wide variety of student-led media organizations, Argus being one of the most unique. The organization publishes an art and literary magazine every year, in which NSU students can submit works of art ranging from poetry, photography, short stories and fine art to be featured.
This year’s theme for the literary and art magazine is “Phobias,” and allows students the opportunity to express their fears in different art forms. Argus has also introduced ‘Zines, a new form of magazine that gets published monthly and allows more students to participate in publishing their work.
Avery Pritchard is a freshman liberal arts major who shares some of the themes that students can see in the ‘Zines. “February’s ‘zine theme is philophobia, but the whole magazine theme is Phobias. This covers all fears and everything creepy or crawly,” Pritchard said. Other themes that have been seen previously in the year are cryophobia and monophobia.
This new idea comes from the organization’s editor-in-chief, Rebecca Scott and the design team. Scott, who is a senior double major in psychology and English, has worked to improve Argus since she entered the leadership position. “Our main goal this year was to make ourselves more known around campus, so we had the addition of the ‘Zine. It was an idea that I had created with my design team over the summer, since we’ve always had just one magazine that comes out yearly. I thought, ‘Why don’t we try doing more publications to give more people the opportunity to publish?’” Scott said. “I’ve always been the kind of person that feels like we should have as many opportunities to get as many writers, photographers and artists the chance to get their work out there.”.
Grace Culpepper is a junior psychology major and design editor for Argus, who sees Argus as a great organization to get student work out in the world. “Our magazine can be very beneficial for those who wish to have a career in art or adjacent fields. By having a published piece in our magazine, you will have a physical representation of your art and achievements. It can be a great stepping stone for those who wish to become published artists,” Culpepper said.
Argus has provided NSU’s students with many exciting opportunities to get creative and share their works of art. Students should be on the lookout for the organization’s future works, as many new and exciting things are coming for the 2025 school year.
