It’s that time of year again folks! And by “that time of year,” I mean PRISM’s submission season. As of right now, submissions are officially open for Volume 146 of Oregon State University’s art and literature magazine. 

As part of the journal creation process, a theme is selected each year around which all submissions should be linked to in some way. It is with a great deal of excitement that we announce the theme of this year’s journal: “Visions.”

In deciding this year’s theme, I found myself reflecting on my own personal sources of artistic inspiration and those of the people around me. I kept returning to the sensation of being at a precipice, both interpersonally, as a college student, no longer a kid but not yet completely entrenched in the adult world, and more broadly as a society, as we face political crises and reckon with unsustainable systems. But always, in trying to articulate that precipice, came the word “visions” — recurring visions of the past, visions of what the future could hold, visions of everything I did or did not want to be. We are always looking for something. 

However, as is the beauty with one-word themes, there are so many ways to conceptualize “Visions”: foresight, the sense of sight, imagination, plans, divine inspiration, dreams, light, the lack of any of the above or something else completely. At the end of the day, this journal will be full of your art and should be full of your interpretations of the theme. All I can hope for is that it inspires you to create something or helps you see a piece of your work in a new light. 

Submissions for this year’s journal are open now and will be open until 11:59 p.m. on Dec. 5, 2025. You can find instructions and submit your work through the submissions page on our website. If you have any questions, feel free to email us at [email protected] or [email protected]. We can’t wait to see all the incredible art that students have to offer.