A new 60-page bi-annual creative arts magazine that publishes the artworks and imaginings of children and adult artists side by side will hit the marketplace this week, but Big Kids Magazine has several BIG differences:
• BIG is an acronym which stands for Bravery, Imagination, Generosity. A unique Australian publication promoting creativity in kids and adults alike.
• The Senior Editor is 8 – E-I-G-H-T! – years young.
• For every copy sold, BIG gives away one copy to children who might not otherwise be able to access it.
• The two founders and creative directors, Lilly Blue and Jo Pollitt, have not seen each other for 12 years. Lilly lives in Sydney; Jo in Perth, yet the geographical distance between them has not proved an obstacle with Big Kids Magazine created entirely over the ether.
• Both are practicing artists – Jo is a dancer; Lilly a visual artist – and mothers with young children; they’re also educators and now they’re publishers.
• BIG can be posted to anywhere in the world, transplanting art from gallery walls onto playroom floors.
• Each issue features a FREE artist print.
“BIG is a contemporary arts publication for children that will amplify small voices in big ways,” says Jo Pollitt, one of the co-creators of BIG.
“BIG features side by side stories, artwork and interviews of children and artists including dancers, painters, singers, sculptors, actors, photographers, film-makers and writers,” adds Lilly Blue.
“We are passionate about the rigour of quality art practice as neither elitist nor hobby but as an everyday way of engaging, viewing and responding to the world,” continues Jo.
The first edition of Big Kids Magazine will be on sale in stores throughout Australia and internationally and is available for purchase now at bigkidsmagazine.com. It retails for $12.95.
ABOUT JO POLLITT
Jo is a dancer, choreographer, writer and mother of three. She lectures at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) and works on various Australian-based dance and theatre projects.
ABOUT LILLY BLUE
Lilly is a visual artist with a long history of creative work in community and youth arts. Galerie LWS in Paris, France, and Art2muse in Sydney represent her work.
THE BIRTH OF BIG
The idea was hatched over a year ago when Jo was searching for a magazine to buy for her kids and couldn’t find one that spoke of the creative arts or offered a world view other than espoused by TV/movie/gaming characters. “There was no Australian-made creatively-driven magazine for kids,” she says.
The very first page of the BIG story was scribed in a note flown from Perth, Western Australia, to Sydney, NSW. In it, Jo shared her dream of making a creative arts-based children’s magazine with Lilly, which sparked a rapid fire correspondence and the co-creation of BIG Kids Magazine.
And so Bravery Imagination Generosity – a creative arts magazine that offers an immersive, interactive and imaginative arts experience for kids (and big kids) – was born.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Web: http://www.bigkidsmagazine.com/
Email: info@bigkidsmagazine.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Bigkidsmagazine
Jo Pollitt: 0407 473 241
Lilly Blue: 0438 497 969
Dan Goldberg (media inquiries): 0421 839 058