e-Mag Ruckus launched by York university arts students

York University art students have launched what they call and "e-mag" (as opposed to a blog) called Ruckus magazine, according to a story posted by BlogTO.

Created by grads and current students at York University, the web site is still a work in progress but ultimately plans to feature local artist profiles, info about grants and art focused events, news, reviews and event previews in all arts disciplines from poetry to dance.

In a Q & A with blogTO, Senior Editor Carl Hiehn said

Certain aspects of the website, for example the feature article, will only be updated every other week giving patrons long periods of time to read the content. Magazines are glossy, well manufactured publications that are meant to sit on our coffee tables and be perused at leisure. Our feature articles are similar as they are left on our homepage longer than, say, a blog post.

The site is having a few teething problems, which should be sorted this week.

Our first set of posts, including the feature, really develop our stance on art and student culture [ saod Hiehn]. The current feature is a response to Stephen Harper's recent niche issue art comment while our other editorial posts discuss the new wave of mainstream hating.

Now that I feel we have created a point of view for the mag, we will be straying to other topics that aren't just about students, but interest them. For example, with L'Oreal Fashion Week coming up, one of our next features will focus on what Canadian fashion really is and how students are a strong force in reshaping that industry...

All of us working on Ruckus were (well, are) student artists ourselves. We know how tough it is to be a student with financial constraints, pressure of school etc. and we also know the difficulties of being an artist in Toronto. Ruckus is our way of helping youth that are struggling to do what they love by creating a bright, inspiring community and connecting them to the resources they need to succeed.