“First of all, none of this would exist without the artists who trusted us with their stories, and the readers, you, who showed up. We want to take a moment to honor Davis, California — where most of us went to college, where we met each other, and where DART was born. We also worked with an extraordinary UCD Design Alum, Sky, to create the graphic visuals in this issue.

DART Magazine is a collective effort of independent collaborators, editors and designers. Most of us are international students who visited here, uncertain of where we will drift to, yet still had the courage to pour our talents, effort, care and love on this project that offered no guarantees. DART Magazine has been running online for more than two years, as we are going to graduate or already graduated, it felt right to make a print issue to honor this milestone, this is for Pan, Yuchen, Livia, Rachel, Kayla, Sally, Oliver, Larissa, and Meredith. This issue is a reflection of our journey as visitors to this land, and in reading it, you become one too.

The visitor, as an identity, as a state of being, feels more urgent than ever. In a world that is rapidly deciding, criticizing who belongs where, and what it means to arrive somewhere new, we hope this issue offers a quieter kind of answer, not a stance, but a story.

In that spirit, we offer you a timely reminder that every place worth loving was first seen through the eyes of a visitor.”