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Dearest readers,

Neither of us were prepared for how fast 2022 would come and go. We know it sounds trite, but it has been the joy of our college careers to lead The Crimson Arts this year. It is fitting that in our last act as Chairs, we present the tenth annual Year-in-Review — the films, TV shows, music, and cultural moments that defined these past twelve months. As all of this art was released, there was one constant in our lives: the steady production of Crimson Arts content, and the warm and effervescent community that goes along with it.

We are immensely proud of the work that The Crimson Arts has produced this year. We published over 600 — 600! — articles in 2022. It was our first full year back on campus since the pandemic, and it was a historic year for The Crimson Arts. This was our first year covering the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Rolling Loud Music Festival, Dreamville Music Festival, as well as the Boston Underground Film Festival. We had the joy of editing some incredible concert reviews when up-and-coming artists like Lizzy McAlpine and The Driver Era stopped in Boston. We interviewed some fascinating artists like author Elif Batuman ’99, actor and singer Ben Platt, and Hollywood producer Marty Bowen ’91. We published insightful and hilarious additions to our Unpopular Opinion and What the Hell Happened series, several nuanced thinkpieces, and many beautifully crafted columns. We were continuously impressed by our writers’ wit, incisive commentary, and thoughtful approach to arts journalism.

We obviously could not have published over 600 articles on our own. We owe so much to so many. To Raquel and Jasper, thank you for always having answers to our questions and for fielding late night texts and phone calls. You put countless hours into this organization and you did it with grace. To our multimedia exec Allison and our design exec Nayeli, thank you for helping to bring our written content to life with dynamic visuals and beautiful print pages.

To our dedicated and loyal Arts execs who showed up again and again, who approached the editing process eagerly and with keen eyes — thank you, thank you, thank you. We will miss seeing you all every week. We will always think of the long hours spent at Monday production nights and smile fondly; we consider you not only our coworkers, but our friends. Production nights could have gone a whole lot faster if we sat quietly while we edited, but we could never help joking around with each other. And we wouldn’t have it any other way.

To those that came before us, thank you. Joy and Kalos, we’re sorry for still texting you with questions 12 months after you finished your tenure as Chairs. You paved the way for us and taught us everything we know. And to the compers and staff writers, the future generations of execs: Those 600+ articles would not exist without you. Nothing makes us happier than talking to a new writer who is passionate about contributing to Crimson Arts and being a part of our community. There is no doubt in our minds that we’re leaving this organization in good hands.

We bonded as a community this year in our first full year in-person since the pandemic started. We were together at the Crimson Arts Oscars watch party when Will Smith slapped Chris Rock in February. We sent links to Wordle spin-off games to each other on Slack (Taylordle being a personal favorite). We hosted rooftop socials where compers and execs alike posed alongside a projection of a Robert Pattinson fan edit on YouTube. We posed for each others’ BeReals at pitch meetings and production nights. We could go on, but to put it simply, it was beyond special to spend this year alongside you all. You made 14 Plympton St. home for us.

We would be lying if we said we didn’t tear up a little as we left Harvard after our last production night as Chairs this December. We both knew we’d be coming back to campus, but we knew we wouldn't be coming back to The Crimson, at least not in the way we did this year. (Though we will definitely visit!) We’ll have free time on Monday nights, and that will be a strange, bittersweet sort of freedom. We won’t have to run to the Quad shuttle at midnight after production night only for it to pull away as we arrive because neither of us pays close enough attention to the time. This is a long winded way of saying…we’ll miss you, Crimson Arts. We’re so thankful for you. And we’re so excited to see the work that Anya, Alisa, and the new masthead will do to make our content better and our community even stronger. We’ll be cheering you on ’til we graduate, and after that, too.

Okay, officially signing off now to go have a “Shrek” marathon and cry sentimental tears.

Artslove forever,

Jaden S. Thompson and Sofia Andrade

Arts Chairs of the 149th Guard of The Harvard Crimson