Open Ceilings is an undergraduate-run literary magazine based in Davis, California.
As a semiannual publication released in the fall and spring of each year, Open Ceilings publishes short fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, artwork, and photography. We aim to give the arts at UC Davis a consistent platform for representation and produce collections our institution can be proud of.
To process the inflow of submissions, the board of Open Ceilings practices a three-tier process of blind review. First, every submission travels through the Submissions Committee, a cohort of twenty readers who vet submissions by majority vote and send those remaining to the central board for review. The central board’s review panel further trims the pool of submissions based on quality, thematic content, aesthetics, and style. Finally, the director team assesses the selections and makes a final cut to achieve the ideal publication length. At every stage of this process, contributors’ personal information is removed from documents to ensure that reviewers remain unbiased.
Open Ceilings began like all good things do: as a daydream.
When Cheyenne Wiseman, one of the founders of Open Ceilings, started at UC Davis, she was disappointed by the lack of creative writing opportunities and thought maybe she could start something herself. It wasn’t until Fall Quarter 2018—when she mentioned her idea to Matthew Pimley—that this something took any real shape or form. Together, they decided to create a publication aimed at providing a platform for creative writing, with the hope that it would foster collaboration among different departments and people of all backgrounds and disciplines. Thus began the lengthy process of recruiting talented graphic designers, editors, and other team members to make Open Ceilings happen. After a year’s worth of hard work, the first issue of Open Ceilings launched on October 23, 2019.
In this past cycle, Open Ceilings received so many creative and phenomenally crafted pieces that we were only able to accept 16 percent of the submitted content. We are constantly looking for new ways to highlight and share the work of our contributors as Open Ceilings continues to grow. Furthermore, we are happy to announce the launch of our online featured content.
In the future, we strive to expand and become more involved in the Davis community. Open Ceilings hosts quarterly readings at the Peter J. Shields Library, open mic nights, and collaborative events with other student organizations.
This has not been a solitary project. Open Ceilings would like to thank everyone who has submitted, designed, advised, advertised, read, bled or cried, cheered on, or otherwise contributed to make a daydream into this beautiful reality.
Our Mission
We at Mechanism Press are dedicated to the craft of writing and strive to foster an appreciation for literature in our community. Our goal is to empower unheard voices and provide UC Davis students, staff, faculty, and members of the community with an avenue for creative expression. We endeavor to capture a representative collection of our time, and preserve it in print, as we nurture opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration in a publication bigger than the individual. By establishing this student-led press on campus, we overcome traditional barriers to publication to showcase a diversity of writers, while offering affiliates the opportunity to expand their academic portfolios. We aim to act as a mechanism by which a creator's work can be published and shared.
Teams
The board of directors for Open Ceilings is composed of six teams totaling twenty three undergraduate students. Outside of the responsibilities that every member of the board shares, each team carries out specialized responsibilities during production.
Director Team
Centrally involved with the proceedings of each team, the director team guides the board during each stage of production and facilitates collaboration to successfully deliver each new issue by the deadline. The director team furthers the vision of Open Ceilings and promotes our creative mission.
Editing Team
The editing team works to polish accepted pieces for publication through light content editing, copyediting, and proofreading. Editors work directly with contributors to ensure that accepted submissions achieve the writers’ intentions without altering their voice.
Graphics Team
The graphics team is responsible for the layout and aesthetics of the magazine, as well as visual branding. The arts director, responsible for the cover and interior graphics of the magazine, and the layout director, responsible for typography and formatting, work together to produce Open Ceilings.
Business Team
The business team is composed of three branches: sales, media, and special events. Together, the members of this team work to widen our outreach, host events, and ensure that Open Ceilings can continue as a financially self-sufficient organization.
Acquisitions Team
Acquisitions editors actively seek out submissions. By encouraging the students, staff, faculty, and community members of Davis and elsewhere to send their work to Open Ceilings, this team helps to ensure that Open Ceilings is accessible to all potential contributors.
Submissions Committee
Headed by a committee chair, the committee readers objectively review all incoming submissions. By majority vote, the committee passes submissions based on quality and compliance with our guidelines.