Every human heart longs for Beauty, but the artist is called to pursue Beauty in a radical way. By diligent and loving attention to their craft, artists can create works that lift the human heart toward the contemplation of the True, Good, and Beautiful. Artistic work is as demanding as it is dignified, and few people can pursue mastery of an art without mentors and friends to encourage them. Vermilion’s mission is to be a home for all the artists in the Catholic University of America community, accompanying them in their loving pursuit of Beauty. 

In 2021, Catholic University’s English Department hosted a competition to choose the name of our new literary magazine. Javier Mazariegos, class of 2023, won the competition with the name Vermilion. His poetic explanation of the name, given below, harmonizes well with our mission as a magazine:

“Vermilion is a deep shade of scarlet red. Used by Renaissance painters for dramatic effect, it is bold, beautiful, a tribute to life, ordinary and extraordinary. This hue of red is both the simple scarlet of a lover’s blush and the dramatic sign of sacrifice. “Vermilion'' is also the closing word of Gerard Manley Hopkins’s poem, “The Windhover.” Like Hopkins’s falcon, literature seems to soar in celestial beauty while being rooted in the soil of everyday life. Creative writers seem tasked to unite vast imagination with concrete words. Their craft teems with the vibrancy of vermilion. This magazine seeks to share this beautiful craft, which shines like a color so fully alive.”