OUtlET Magazine Celebrates One Year of Independent Publication

Lowell, MA – Outlet, an independent performance magazine was founded in May 2004 by Matt Studivan in a basement apartment behind Newbury St. in Boston. Now, one year later, the magazine has doubled it’s physical size, tripled its distribution, and multiplied its staff - in Lowell.
OUtlET is based on an idea, and the magazine is the medium in which the idea is realized –empowering the emerging creative class with both the responsibility to produce creative output and also the means to publish their own work. “Anybody that reads OUtlET can write for it.” says Studivan.
Mark Henderson, Studivan’s long time friend, noticed the merit of the idea and also spotted an opportunity in the artistic community that was slowly growing in Lowell. Within 3 months, the magazine relocated to Lowell, and the tagline changed to “A Lowell Performance ‘Zine.” Work is now done in a basement studio near The Revolving Museum Lab space at 181 Market St.
A new issue of Outlet is released every two weeks featuring work from the six staff members and outside contributors who show a remarkable range of class, age, and personality. The magazine has featured poetry, prose, art, and even music in a special CD insert. You can subscribe to the magazine at set rates or you can travel to downtown Lowell to pick up a copy for free.
However, the work OUtlET doesn’t stop on the pages of the magazine – there are two Outlet sponsored artistic events that happen every week in downtown Lowell: Outlet’s Open Mic at the Mambo Grill, and OUt @ Evos, a dance night in the upstairs of Evos Arts Institute.
To pay for duplication costs, the magazine features ads in an insert. This may seem to go against the DIY nature of independent publishing but the members of Outlet have inserted an interesting catch – they get to design the ads. “We want the magazine’s style to be consistent, even the ads. If we spend some time with the business we can get a sense of what they’re all about and then create an ad for them, almost like a consultant.” says Mark Henderson.
To celebrate, the six members of the Outlet staff are celebrating with a three course evening on Thursday June 9, starting in The Revolving Museum Gallery at 6:30 PM. The master copies of every issue will be on display and the Outlet awards will be given out, showcasing local artists and businesses. From there, the party will move upstairs at Evos for their weekly OUt event. After that, who knows? You might just get invited to the after party.