Letter Writing Week & Open Call

Written as a letter to herself, this piece holds tenderness, an honest acknowledgment of how far she has come, and a promise to continue choosing herself with care. We chose Gianelli Vargas as our January Artist of the Month because her work feels deeply aligned with where we are as a community.

Letter writing has long been part of how people process and make sense of their inner worlds. It creates space to step outside our thoughts, to see ourselves from a new angle. Gia’s work reflects that practice naturally, using art as a way to return to self, witness growth, and name what matters.

As we celebrate Letter Writing Week, we have been thinking about how letters can move beyond the page, how something deeply personal can also become shared. Words written for ourselves often become words someone else needs.

Letters allow us to speak across time and relationship. They can be written to ourself, to children still finding their way, to future generations, or to a community learning how to hold complexity together. They carry memory, care, and values, things we return to when we need grounding or clarity.

Writing is one way we pause. A way to name what we stand for and offer something steady to carry forward.

As we move through the next three months, our focus is on culture, and how creativity, language, and nature shape it. That focus led us to lay the foundation for Where We Are Magazine: a space for reflection, creativity, and shared presence.

Where We Are Issue #1 will include a letter-writing section alongside visual collages, essays, and art, each a part of the community archive we are building together.

Gia’s feature article is coming soon!! We have been sitting with her work and letting her words guide the process.

Learn more about contributing to the magazine and submitting your work by clicking the button below.

Where We Are Magazine