letter from the editor

First off, I would like to thank you for visiting the Collection Five website. I want you to know that I am baring the truest part of my soul to you, and I hope you take that as deeply as I hope you will.

I have always been surrounded by the most diverse, inclusive, and incredible people who have taught me to be shameless and brave. They have all grown to become talented artists, musicians, educated scholars, hardworking, self-made, and simply doing the best that they could, just trying to make it through while doing it so graciously.

Art has always captivated me. I was so fascinated by the emotive and moving powers that every form of creation has, but I never truly considered myself an artist. I found myself seeking sanctuary through art, living through some of my lowest points and describing those moments in my private creations that I didn’t share. It was not until I was brave enough to share my tragedies with others, when I saw that there is a community of people, like my loved ones, that had been waiting for me all along.

Through my studies in school, I touched upon all of the aspects of environmental sciences— it was the cause that seemed the most dire to me, and it still is— until I finally fell into place studying Geography with a fine-tuned combination of minors to suite my interests. I found beauty in the hopelessness of our planet, in the struggling nations, in the falling trees… I saw perseverance and the ability to grow back again, eventually.

I never imagined that I would find a place where everything I loved — art, nature, people, food, fashion, sustainability, interior design, culture, music, journalism, photography, cities — would exist in one place. I never found it, so I decided to create it myself.

Thus, I present you with Collection Five, an entity that I hope will transcend from a website to a physical space that I will design myself, creating an inclusive space that all will be welcomed, like the environment that I became my true self in. I want to foster a library of local authors, a gallery of local artists, a community garden, classes for furthering education, sustenance available for those who need it, a sanctuary for those escaping their own tragedies, and more.

As we get torn down, time and time again, we will rebuild. We will regrow, in different shapes and forms, each time learning more about ourselves. Let’s create, and grow, sustainably, with love, every time.