Phaedrus took to the stage during MX on Friday, November 14. Parker’s arts magazine presented its goals for expanding student involvement and building a stronger creative community. The presentation focused on inclusivity and a future in which students from across Chicago, not just from Parker, are able to add to the publication. Phaedrus’s outreach beyond Parker is new this year and marks a shift in the magazine’s mission.
Phaedrus publishes all kinds of arts and other student work in their magazine. The MX was aimed at helping students better understand the magazine’s purposes as an art magazine. The team wanted to use the MX to “further engage the student body in our magazine,” senior and Phaedrus head Delilah Davis said, and show “that Phaedrus should represent everyone, whether they consider themselves an artist or not.” Davis explained how the attention the publication received during student government last year made the heads feel they needed to emphasize the community of Phaedrus, demonstrating that the magazine is really about bringing together a creative community within Parker. Interest has grown notably this year. “Phaedrus has gained more submissions than in past years, which really shows that students are taking ownership of the creative outlet the magazine provides,” senior and Phaedrus head Ava Lin said.
In addition to receiving more submissions, Phaedrus has begun hosting events intended to support student creators. One example is portfolio workshops. Portfolio workshops are currently geared toward helping seniors organize submissions for art schools. These events represent part of Phaedrus’s push to support artists in the process of creating their works into something ready to be presented to others.
Phaedrus is also looking beyond Parker and, “reaching out to schools across Chicago, advertising the magazine and encouraging students to submit artwork,” Phaedrus Outreach Editor senior Phoebe Stranahan said, because the goal is for Phaedrus to “reflect not just Parker artists, but all of Chicago’s many talented students.” By allowing submissions from other high schools, Stranahan knows the magazine can represent “a larger community of Chicago high school artists,” Stranahan said. 2025 is the first year Phaedrus has allowed submissions outside Parker.
Currently, changes are happening inside the publication as well, such as “shifting from two submissions per year to one will allow the heads to curate a larger, more professional magazine,” Stranahan said, demonstrating how Phaedrus values quality over quantity. Phaedrus’s values connect to a bigger goal: “We want Phaedrus to be a high-quality magazine recognized at a city-wide and even national level, we would love to have submissions from outside Chicago as well,” Lin said.
With Ava Lin and Delilah Davis graduating, the future leadership of Phaedrus remains unknown. Ava Lin and Delilah Davis have “no clue who the heads will be next year,” Davis said. Lin called this year “a turning point,” as the magazine is “shifting from being a Parker-only publication to a Chicago publication,” Lin said. The MX made clear that Phaedrus is entering a period of transformation centered on growth and quality. Davis said the team hopes students know that they can submit their work “no matter their skill level” and that the magazine can include “all skill levels, all of the Parker community, and even the wider Chicago community.” Phaedrus aims to build a larger, more connected creative community that reflects Chicago’s youth artists as a whole, not just Parker’s artists.
