FAQs

Blue Art Journal grew out of conversations between the First Nations artists and curators on the board of an Australasian art magazine who identified a gap in the market for sustainable arts criticism by and for First Peoples. The opportunity arose to evolve the former print magazine into something new, and Blue Art Journal was born. Creating a digital art journal completely dedicated to First Nations and global Indigenous visual art, craft and design is a first in so-called Australia. Led by an entirely Indigenous board HERE and with Koori writer Susie Anderson as Managing Editor, Blue Art Journal will publish bold new writing and deepen engagement with global Indigenous visual art through criticism, review and creative responses over its four annual volumes.

We gave a lot of thought to the word choice. It means many things to us as First Peoples: sky Country and the great oceans, rivers and other bodies of water that provide us with important life source. It is a cheeky nod to the European art traditions. But why dontcha read our inaugural essay HERE from co-editors Hayley Millar Baker and Erink Vink. They’ll tell you more.

Maybe! No one knows what the future holds. But donating or becoming a subscriber is the best way to support this type of deadly writing getting into print. If you'd like to see these writers on ya coffee table, head to our subscription page or donate what you can here HERE. 

The best way to read Blue Art Journal in full is through your annual subscription. The decision to make the first edition free is to give an idea of what the journal is about. We know not everybody can afford subscriptions, but this decision was made to create a sustainable model that supports both First Nations writers and artists, as well as our small team of staff. Non-subscribers won’t be able to access content beyond the paywall, but guest Editors will select pieces at their discretion to be available for non-subscribers.

Our current board members can be seen here HERE. We will post call outs for board vacancies on our social media, so make sure you’re following blue.artjournal on Instagram or alternatively subscribed to our email list [link]. If you have other skills in writing, editing or visual art and want to get involved, feel free to email us info@blueartjournal.com and say hello.

The board and Managing Editor draw on their communities of writers, editors, artists and curators to weave a network of editors. Representation from different areas across so-called Australia is important to us, as well as widening the scope out to global Indigenous communities. If you’re an interested in working with us in this capacity, please reach out to editorial@blueartjournal.com.

Our pitches are reviewed by the Managing Editor and discussed with the rotating editors with a great deal of care. Head to our submissions page for more.

Our priority will always be writing by First Peoples. Non-Indigenous writers may certainly submit something, but for consideration is key here. It will be considered by our Managing Editor and Board. Like the great oceans, Blue Art Journal is fluid and changing. Anything is possible.

While we can’t guarantee that someone will respond to your work, we would love to hear what you’re up to! You might also want to look at our pitching guidelines HERE and see if there’s a way for your work to fold into one of those categories, and be considered by our editors. If you have press releases or other information about your exhibition, send it over to info@blueartjournal.com.

We support First Peoples rights to self determination and representation. If you write or make work under an artist name or alias, that’s fine by us. Please note we will never publish anything that is unreasonable, harmful or defamatory. Ours is a small community and if there’s a reason you can’t put your real name against something you want to say, let’s have a conversation about why.

We are recipients of Creative Australia's Arts Projects for Organisation and have also been supported by Sydney University's Power Institute.. Our subscription model HERE, which will be active from Volume Two, will enable us to sustainably support First Nations art and writing. We’ve got big dreams for Blue Art Journal and would love your support to do it. If you are in a position to, please consider donating to the Journal HERE. Your donation to Blue will directly support our next Volume of publishing and commissioning writers.