YNST Magazine team believes you can stay in WV & ‘do the cool shit’ 

By Stephen Baldwin, RealWV

WHEELING, WV – “It no longer feels like you have to leave to do cool shit,” says Adam Payne of Wheeling. “You can stay in West Virginia and do the cool shit.”

Adam is Editor in Chief of YNST Magazine, a new print & digital magazine designed to showcase Appalachian creatives and artists, countering negative national media narratives with positive, contemporary coverage. 

You’re Not Seeing Things

“All of the people here are so vastly positive and doing really incredible work, especially in the creative arts,” Adam says  of Appalachia. “The representation was skewed in the national media, and we really wanted to showcase the other side of the story.” 

He and his fellow West Virginia University journalism students began Mirage, a digital student magazine, in college and had so much fun they decided to continue working together after graduation doing what they love. 

“‘You’re Not Seeing Things’ was the tagline for the first issue of Mirage, and then we kinda forgot about it,” he says with a laugh. “Post-grad, we all decided to stick together and keep channeling this spotlight on all the incredible creatives that we have here in Appalachia.” 

So when it came time to name the new publication, they went back to an old favorite. “It’s what our actual mission is; more than just talk, we wanted to show people the positives. ‘You’re not seeing things!’ So we kept calling it YNST. And it just stuck.”

In addition to Adam, the team includes Kasey Lettrich, Olivia Gianettino, Annika Godwin, Joseph Lucey, Savanna Shriver, Ella Jennings, and Michael Stein. Most of them are still in West Virginia, scattered across differing communities including Wheeling, Morgantown, and Bridgeport. Others are living outside the state, like Casey in New York City, but remain committed to YNST and the mission of lifting up Appalachian creatives. 

‘Just as colorful and creative as New York or Chicago’

This spring, YSNT released its 11th issue. Print copies can be found in nearly 50 retailers across the state including book and gift shops, they can be published online, or readers can sign up for a mailed-subscription. 

And then, of course, there’s the website, where you can find most of their creative content presented in beautifully-curated visuals. 

“What we’re really trying to do with YNST is show Appalachia in an editorialized, contemporary way that is just as colorful and creative as New York or Chicago but remains rooted in our cultural pillars,” Adam explains.

YNST is organized into three sections–Visions (artist features), Looks (fashion & photography), and Perspectives (creative writing and commentary). 

“We platform a lot of early-career creatives who are just getting their start in the art world,” Adam says. “So the magazine’s sections play off our title ‘You’re Not Seeing Things.’”

In addition to continued publication of print and digital stories, YNST hopes to enlarge their cultural footprint in events. 

“People are really starting to look at us as collaborative partners, instead of just, ‘Hey, will you guys write a story about us?’ We are curating the stage of the Wheeling Heritage Blues Festival and an art gallery in Knoxville for LGBTQ Appalachians,” Adam shares. “Those kinds of opportunities are starting to come up more frequently, which is the direction we want to move in.” 

‘We can do anything’

Adam daydreams of plans for the future including a music festival called VisionFest and Appalachian Fashion Week. It’s exactly the kind of “cool shit” Adam has always wanted to do, but feared would not be possible in West Virginia. 

“There’s been this sense of fighting to stay in the past,” he says. “Like there’s so much you can’t do here, but now it feels more like we can do anything when we all come together.” 

“You can do the cool shit here, and I think that’s really special.” 

Click here to visit YNST’s website and subscribe to the magazine.