WUNK Magazine
WUNK is a brand new arts and culture magazine that mixes the high-brow with the low-brow, and celebrates Pacific Northwest artists and creators working at the edges. The rag will feature as many art forms as we can cram into its pages, including fiction, poetry, satire, gonzo journalism, comics, illustration, paintings, photography, collage, and anything else we can figure out how to print. Issue one will come out Fall 2026.
WUNK will be 100% FREE
The main goal of the WUNK project is to help elevate and signal-boost as many talented, lesser-known artists from the PNW as we can, and we feel the best way to do this is to make the magazine 100% free to the public. To bring this dream into reality, all of our contributing artists donate the use of their work to the magazine without compensation, keeping the magazine accessible to everyone. We run a small number of ads in the magazine, most of which designed are by our artists, and the funds raised are used for production and distribution costs, allowing us to give the magazine to the public for free, and build community between artist and audience through this ongoing collaborative art project.
Selected Contents / Contributors
We are working with a wide range of artists from across various mediums and disciplines, and bringing you the most intriguing, innovative, and immediate pieces that Portland has to offer. He’s just some of what’s coming in issue one.
ALL THE MEN I EVER SHOT Fiction by Mykle Hansen about a man and his guns.
HOLE-Y GHOST Painting by Ro Hebert, inspired by Mykle’s story, featuring a twice-shot man.
BEST JOB IN THE WORLD Comic by Lily O’Donell about making money in a real fun way.
BACK TO YOU IN THE STUDIO Fiction by Colin Keating about a world falling to pieces in real time.
JUST FRIENDS Comic by Riley Michael Parker about two roommates facing rumors that they’re gay. (this comic might get cut)
UNCLE BUCKY’S CRYING SHED by Phil Schallberger - A fake game review of a video game called UNCLE BUCKY’S CRYING SHED.
GO BY WORM by Erin Tanner - Dune inspired comics.
THE ADVENTURES OF JOHN JAMES AUDUBON JR. by Wilson M. - Comic about a 19th Century artist / naturalist.
KING TONFA by Tim Goodyear - VHS and DVD box recreation comics centered around Stephen King movies.
KNEEL TO THE HEEL by Alex Erickson & Riley Parker - Photos and interviews with local (bad guy) wrestlers.
MAXIMALIST OVERDRIVE by Cris Villa - Collage art pieces.
DISPARATE NOTHINGS by Colin Keating - Collage art pieces.
HOW TO LOVE YOURSELF by Tucker Ramsbottom - A guide for those unlucky with love.
LOCALS ONLY by Ro Hebert - Interviews and photos with working class weirdos, like line cooks, strippers, mailmen, bouncers, cabbies, etc.
ASK MADAME CIRCE by Madame Circe- Cosmic answers to Earthly questions.
WHY I LOVE A.I. by Tomas Muelling - How I learned to stop worrying and eat the slop.
HASAAN HATES INTERVIEWS by WUNK Staff - Conversations with the team behind Hasaan Hates Portland.
A COUPLE FEW YESTERDAYS Fiction by Riley Michael Parker, fiction about the past chasing after us, inspired by . . .
BARBIE Painting by Ellen Blazich, named after her roommate.
THE SOUND OF PORTLAND - Reviews of local bands / albums.
Want to pitch us something?
We are always down to meet new artists and see their work! Our goal with this project is to find and spotlight the creatives working at the edges who deserve more attention, and the truth is that we don’t know (yet) who most of those people are! If you want to be a part of things, please reach out! We have a limited number of pages, so we sadly can’t accept every pitch, but if you’re an artist living in the Pacific Northwest and making art on the edges, we definitely want to see what you’re up to! Click here to pitch!
Accepting pitches through August 12th
WUNK FAQ
ISSUE ONE BY THE NUMBERS
Pages - We will have a minimum of 60 pages in the first issue, and we are aiming for a page count closer to 100.
Contributors - Our base goal is at least 30+ contributors, but we will add as many artists as we can to every issue.
Ads - We need to sell a minimum of 8 half-page ads to produce the magazine, but even those will be art-focused, as we produce all our ads in-house by pairing our sponsors with our associated artists. We are open to more than 8 ads, because each ad sold lets us add pages to the magazine and increase distribution.
Distribution - We will be producing a minimum 500 copies, with a stretch goal of 1,500 based on ad sales. We are in the process of building distributor partnerships all around Portland (and beyond), and will be working with book stores, comic shops, record shops, bars, tattoo parlors, and any other partners we find that promote outsider art and counter culture.
WHO’S INVITED TO PITCH?
Essentially everyone. Over the course of this project we are looking to include as many working PNW artists as we can. We will always prioritize working class, student, and outsider artists over established artists whenever possible, because our mission is shine light on the artists at the edges, but without exception we are down to have a conversation with anyone interested in participating. The only exclusion is that we don’t feel it is appropriate to include artists under the age of 18 in a magazine with mature content that is intended to be read by adults. If you are 18 years of age or older, and living in the PNW, we are excited to hear your pitch.
WHAT TYPE OF WORK GETS ACCEPTED?
We only have so many pages, so unfortunately we can’t take everything. When we get a pitch, we ask ourselves these questions : Is the idea unique / innovative / outside the norm? Do we find the sample work from the artist engaging? Would the proposed piece make us pick up the magazine if we weren’t the publishers? If the answer to all three is yes, we do our best to find room. We know that’s vague, but artistic expression is a vast realm, and we are open to a lot of things. Sorry about that. The TLDR : It’s a vibe check thing.
COMPENSATION
As a magazine free to the public, this project will not bring in any money for editors or contributors. All money raised will be put into production, distribution, and promotion of the work. No compensation is available in the current model.
ADVERTISERS
We are open to advertisers from across industries, but we prioritize partners who would like to carry a free counter-culture art magazine and have WUNK available for their patrons. Ideal advertising partners include : Book Stores, Comic Shops, Bars, Coffee Shops, Weed Stores, Record Shops, Tattoo Parlors, and anywhere else where people might be delighted to find a magazine filled with experimental art. Want to advertise? Bookmark this page! More info coming soon!
DEADLINE(S)?
Wednesday August 12th for pitches (but you should do it before that if you can), and Wednesday September 9th is deadline for all finished work.