Dear Lovely Readers, 

Before anything else, I want to say thank you for clicking through the Spring 2022 volume of Glass Mountain! It is the product of so much hard work, passion, creativity, and love that it might as well be a living being itself. 

In times such as these, the future can feel daunting and uncertain. I certainly understand– I’m about to graduate! Sometimes, there is so much going on in my life that it feels like there aren’t enough hours in the day to make time to breathe, much less to read or make art. But the truth is, these are the times it is most necessary to read and make art. 

Last semester, I chose to make a painting as a creative final project instead of writing a final essay for one of my classes. This ended up taking about five times as long, stressing me out ten times as much, and keeping me up until five AM the night before the eight-thirty AM class. It made me want to rip my hair out– and yet? It was still better than an essay. My point, which I am taking the long way towards, is this: art is always worth the trouble. Making time, even when you truly have none, to create and to engage with art is worthwhile. Always.

So while we step into the future, make time to enjoy art with me. The passage of time isn’t so daunting, when you consider how much art is still in the distance. 

It is my hope, my dear reader, that this issue has the same effect as my final project (not the stress– the feeling of fulfillment that can only come from creating something). The pieces we have published in this issue are wonderful and are the work of incredibly talented individuals. 

I want to thank all of our incredible staff, our graduate advisor, our faculty advisor, our board members, our sponsors, our writers and artists, our community, and everyone else who has contributed or engaged with Glass Mountain this past semester.