Aesthetica magazine

Aesthetica Magazine is the UK cultural arts publication. The magazine provides a current up-to-date 21st century perspective on British arts and culture. Founded in 2002, Aesthetica Magazine covers literature, visual arts, music, film and theatre. With 45,000 readers and national distribution through WH Smith, Borders, and university bookstores the publication extends far and wide. Cherie Federico, Managing Editor of Aesthetica has just been appointed as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

It was initially founded by Cherie Federico and Dale Donley, when they were students at York St John: A College of the University of Leeds (now York St John University) in 2002. Their initial intention was to promote creativity, equality and diversity within the literary arts in and around the York area. They did not expect the magazine would go national, let alone international, but its focus and intended audience have since become much wider. Cherie Federico continues to act as overall managing editor, whilst Dale Donley is responsible for design, Samantha cracknell, Pauline Bache and Shona Fairweather are responsible for marketing, advertising and overall growth, as well as a team of freelance writers.

The magazine is an A4 glossy magazine, which has excerpts that are published on the internet. Since it was launched in 2003, it has grown from a student publication to being sold in all Borders bookstores across the UK as well as WH Smith nationwide, and galleries such as TATE, BALTIC and ICA. Aesthetica Magazine has a growing international readership of 45,000. It reports on what is happening in 'the arts' and includes information and articles around contemporary themes.

In May 2007, the Guardian, said, “Aesthetica is going from strength to strength”. With an ethos of creativity and diversity, Aesthetica Magazine demonstrates the interdisciplinary nature of the arts, and embodies that very concept within its pages. Providing readers with current information from the arts world, Aesthetica Magazine is here to stay. Issue 19 (out 1 October 2007) features: Caryl Phillips, John Pilger, Thurston Moore, Jackie Kay, The Future Can Wait: The New School London, The Turner Prize preview, and much more including new artwork and writing.

On being appointed a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Editor, Cherie Federico, says "It was a real surprise to be offered a Fellowship for the Royal Society of Arts. You follow your dreams, pull your sleeves up, put your head down and work hard to make your ideas a reality, and little by little you realise you are doing what you set out to do. It's an amazing feeling to have recognition from the arts establishment, and to see Aesthetica has become part of the national scene. We believe in the cross-pollination of different art forms to create one cultural whole, and Aesthetica brings a new voice to the industry. I would like to thank everyone on the Aesthetica team for all their hard work. It's a real group effort every step of the way."

The magazine has also been involved with a number of events, shows and interviews to promote emerging writers, artists, musicians and filmmakers. Aesthetica Education was set up in autumn 2005 to organise workshops and creative sessions in order to encourage wider participation in the arts. This includes visual arts and various forms of creative writing and expression with a variety of age groups and communities from young people to adults and the elderly. Aesthetica also provides a research and consultancy service to UK arts organisations and an advisory and editing service for poets and authors

External links

* [http://www.aestheticamagazine.com/ Aesthetica Magazine]

* [http://www.aesthetica-online.com/ Aesthetica Arts]

* [http://www.sciencecityyork.org.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=700&d=142&h=24&f=147 Press Release 25.6.2005]