Changes come . . . and keep coming!

Good morning!

First of all, in celebration of this week’s sunshine, I offer this image of Penelope Umbrico’s 5,377,183 Suns. Praise be for Vitamin D!

There are a number of new folks here. Welcome! Thanks for subscribing to The Thread. And of course, thanks to those have been regular readers for a long time. Today I’ll use this space to talk about The Thread’s future, share some updates, and ask for your input and support.

As many of you know, I’ve spent the past six months working with the Kansas City Artists Coalition to launch Forum magazine. It has been a pleasure working on this project, and I am incredibly proud of the two issues of Forum I have already published. As of this week, I have resigned from my role and have parted ways with KCAC. I am unsure whether the organization has capacity to continue publishing a magazine, so Forum’s future is unclear to me.

I DO know that I have loved the work of curating, editing, and publishing an arts and culture magazine. I have loved working closely with writers and artists to develop ideas into drafts, and drafts into quality essays, articles, poems, and interviews. Jobs may change, but the work does not necessarily need to end.

I am taking time to determine my next steps, but I know now that there is a hunger for the kind of magazine I’ve created. I am exploring options to keep it going.

Here’s where you come in: One idea I’m considering is to transition The Thread into a platform that combines my own writing here with a subscription model for a bimonthly print magazine in the same spirit as Forum. With The Thread I have always offered the option to become a paid subscriber, but I have always made my content free to all, whether you are a paid subscriber or not. If I made this adaptation, I am wondering what it might look like and whether you might support it. (If you have not seen a copy of the magazine, you can view the latest issue here.) So, can you please take a moment to answer a couple questions?

Thank you for taking the time to answer. I know there are so many challenges demanding our attention, so many changes rapidly underway, both broadly in our country as well as in our personal lives. Everyone is trying to navigate and make decisions. With federal grant cuts, nonprofit and art organizations are scrambling. With so many programs, benefits, and agencies on the chopping block, it is dizzying to know which changes are going to impact us, our neighbors, or our families. I am here today trying to discern my next steps, just like everyone else, so I don’t take it lightly that I am asking for your support right as we all need to be supporting one another in so many different ways.

Lastly, thanks to those of you who have chosen to be paid subscribers just because! It means a lot. If you’ve been reading The Thread for a while and have enjoyed or appreciated my work on this platform, you are always welcome to become a paid subscriber now, if that’s a meaningful way for you to support my work:

Thank you thank you thank you for reading. Grace, peace, and sunshine to you all,

Andrew