Can an established art magazine evolve to become a platform for immersive workshops and an amplifier of emerging and underrepresented creatives?
Summary
WE MUST BE BOLD (WMBB) publishes
The Great Discontent, a connection-focused platform that amplifies the stories of artists, designers, and the broader creative community. Through this platform, WMBB seeks to create space to candidly explore the challenges and journeys associated with creativity.
The breadth of those who are featured on this platform reflects a commitment to inclusivity and accessibility.
The project
WMBB manages every aspect of The Great Discontent, from concept through design and print production to distribution. We do so as part of a commitment to our belief that the creative community has the power to transform society.
WMBB acquired The Great Discontent in 2019 with the goal of building on the success of its founders while expanding the audience to feature new and underrepresented creatives and communities. This goal is further grounded in our mission to provide a platform that authentically amplifies the voices of artists whose identities, journeys, and contributions have too often gone unrecognized.
This mission isn’t about empowerment—the power already exists in the creatives and communities highlighted—it is about amplification and representation.
The Great Discontent’s digital features are viewed annually by more than 400,000 readers. These features – of over 300 creatives of all disciplines – reflect conversations about the new creative class’s understanding of their origins, how those origins impact their process, and what kind of future they are working towards. The Great Discontent’s social media audience of more than 80,000 followers, 12,500 email subscribers, and over 550,000 monthly Pinterest viewers is a reminder that scale comes not only through breadth but also through depth.
As an expansion of The Great Discontent’s platform, we launched Deconstructing Discontent, an immersive workshop and installation, piloted in four cities – Raleigh, Asheville, Baltimore and Detroit – designed as a communal experience to inspire connection through relationships of influence, to evoke reflection on creative journeys, and allow space to challenge the roots of our discontent. The next series of immersive experiences will be held in 2023 as multi-day workshops in the estate of American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, in Spring Green, Wisconsin at Taliesin.
We also engage in partnerships and community-building projects with like-minded organizations who explore the creative process and how it connects us, like the New Rules Next Week Campaign with the Corita Art Center and dublab radio.
Annually, we design, publish and distribute The Great Discontent as a print magazine, capturing the most impactful features into an artfully designed publication centered around a theme. The most recent edition focused on the uncertainties that are a part of every creative journey and the critical choices we make despite them. Aptly named the Emergence Issue, the stories within represent geographies, identities, philosophies, and practices that are deeply committed to addressing systemic challenges in our communities and around the globe.
Visit thegreatdiscontent.com to purchase a print edition, receive a media kit, or start a conversation.
