Art and Social Practice MFA program publishes Fall 2025 SoFA Journal

The Portland State Schnitzer School of Art + Art History + Design’s Art and Social Practice MFA program has published their latest edition (Fall 2025) of the Social Forms of Arts (SoFA) Journal. Launched in 2018, the SoFA Journal is a publication dedicated to supporting, documenting and contextualising social forms of art and its related fields and disciplines. The journal acts as a place for students in the Art and Social Practice MFA to share writing and web-based projects, covering topics like civics, perception, exchange, friendship, community, recreation and more.

The newest issue explores themes of inner awareness, vulnerability, and the willingness to be misunderstood,, along with honest reflections on anger as a meaningful way of navigating the world. Many contributors chose to interview people who have been present in their lives as confidants and supporters, highlighting what it means to show up for one another, to share resources and experiences, and to grow alongside someone else. The result is a collection of lively, entertaining, and deeply thought-provoking conversations about the practice and experience of being human.

In their letter from the editors, Sarah Luu, Gwen Hoeffgen, Domenic Toliver and Adela Cardona Puerta write, “The issue reveals how friendships, both longstanding and newly formed, can shape creative practices just as profoundly as any formal study.”

"Conversations offer a unique type of shared experience, and a lot of what we think about in the PSU Art + Social Practice MFA program considers how those experiences can shape or become a student's research direction,” said Lisa Jarrett, professor of community and context arts. “Each volume allows the students' research to be shared with a broader audience and it gives readers an opportunity to participate in the conversations too."

Read the journal.