Cynosure, “the person or thing that is the center of attention or admiration,” is the title Parsons School of Design third-year Nicole Galinson adopted for her high school magazine project at 16 years old. Today, the magazine is an up-and-coming publication.
“We’re if Rolling Stone and Vogue had a baby,” said Galinson. “We are trying to reestablish a gray area to reincorporate a more intentional life for creatives’ work after it is made, that they do have a physical home out in the real world.”
What began as an idea turned into the release of CYNOSURE’s first Fall/Winter issue in 2023, available for purchase most prominently at Iconic Magazines on 188 Mulberry St. in the city and Laurel Canyon Newsstand in LA.
Like many students at The New School, Galinson had a vision, but could not have predicted the journey it would take to make it a reality.
At the start of the New School’s strike for adjunct professors in 2022, Galinson was conflicted about how to continue her education while dealing with frustrating academic circumstances. She began to look at schools in London and started scanning old copies of CYNOSURE to put in a digital portfolio.
In the same school year, she had an unusual interaction with the editor-in-chief of Interview Magazine, Mel Ottenberg. On her walk over to Washington Square Park, Ottenberg happened to be handing out free copies of the March 2023 issue of Interview to anyone who could prove they were a Lana Del Rey fan. The cover, which featured Lana Del Rey, was shot by famed photographer Nadia Lee Cohen.
“I love Lana, and I was like I saw her once at Coachella, but I am Nadia Lee Cohen’s biggest fan and he was asking people questions about their love for Lana,” said Galinson.
She broke through the crowd and began to shout all the things she knew about photographer Nadia Lee Cohen, making a unique impression on Ottenberg who was impressed by her knowledge. To her, the interaction was a sign.
“I love Interview, growing up it was one of my favorite publications,” said Galinson. Pondering how she could get connected with Ottenberg again to work at Interview, she thought “what if I just brought Cyno back?”
CYNOSURE would serve to tell stories of upcoming or celebrated artists, people, and unique places through photography, interviews, and art. “Once we deem somebody a cynosure, it doesn’t matter what stage of their career they are, their work is important and it deserves to be seen and platformed,” said Galinson.
When she launched her decision to make CYNOSURE the real thing, The New School offered her an Artist Talk where she could pitch her idea alongside other aspiring artists and their projects. Galinson needed a team and opened applications to anybody willing to collaborate.
Strategic Design and Management student Théo Rousselet was one of the first Parsons students to partner with Galinson. “He walked up to me after the presentation and was floored by the concept and really believed in it. We partnered up after that and found the team. It just kept flowing from there and the rest was history,” said Galinson.
As an experienced photographer, Galinson knew what she needed to do to revamp CYNOSURE from its original format — first made to showcase her photography in high school. However, bringing it to a larger scale would require her to find partners who could help bring it to life.
“The universe has a funny way of pushing the people that are supposed to be together, to make work and art in this life together, no matter how resistant our physical selves may be to it actually happening,” said Galinson.
For nine months, Galinson would give up many nights of drinking and fun to grow her product, joking that it was something like a pregnancy. Like any student with a side hustle, Galinson was challenged with balancing her time. “I do feel like it’s my purpose to be able to head the ship, but I think sometimes I can get a bit avoidant in my own practice,” Galinson said.
Still, she found infinite support in her efforts to manage school, personal life, and CYNOSURE. “Luckily I’ve had professors that are very understanding because life is challenging,” she said.
Despite planting the seed herself, it took a whole team to nurture CYNOSURE’s growth. “There is a lot of me in the issue, but it’s also just so not about me at all,” Galinson said. The magazine tells a diverse range of upcoming, underground artist stories through the creative eyes of a large team.
“Cynosure is a sum of all of the beautiful people that have poured into it,” Galinson said.
On November 9, 2023, Galinson gathered her mentors, family, friends, and contributors for the release party of CYNOSURE, featuring live music from her band Lynsey and a few other musicians.
“We had physical copies of the mag and nobody had seen it yet and the response I kept getting the entire night was ‘this is insane, we were expecting a 20-page mediocre zine, no offense,’” Galison said.
Unsure of what the night would hold, Galinson could only appreciate the love and support from her peers. “That’s the best thing I could have heard, you showed up thinking it was going to be dumb, but you showed up,” she said.
After the launch party, the team worked on distribution using industry connections and by pitching to stores in person. Going into Casa Magazines, Galinson could have never expected the response from the owner who saw CYNOSURE in Iconic Magazines. “He goes ‘We know CYNOSURE, we’ve been waiting for you, where have you been,’” Galinson said.
A big moment for Galinson was getting CYNOSURE into Laurel Canyon Newsstand in LA, a spot where she used to spend her Bat Mitzvah money. “I’ve been floored by the response from the community and from people that want to join the team and people that want to be a part of it in some way,” she said.
While CYNOSURE is unique to Galinson and her team’s imagination, she encourages other students to take risks and believe in what they are pursuing.
“As long as your intention is of a pure and enlightened and informed place, or just a curious place, I’d say you’re pretty much doing what 90% of people can’t do because they’re scared,” she said.
For Galison doing something different and bringing a female voice to a publication drove her ambition. “We’re [women] given, at times, kind of a second-rate existence within that [publishing] sphere and I think that’s obviously so misguided,” said Galinson.
Using her savings, a GoFundMe, and contributions from Rousellet, she was able to fund the first issue of CYNOSURE. Now she’s envisioning the next.
In the second issue, she hopes to get ad revenue and investors in order to pay her growing team. “Everybody that contributes to the project is so talented and so deserving of compensation,” she said.
Regardless of imperfect circumstances, CYNOSURE perseveres through Galinson’s faith in challenges happening for a reason. “Something must have blessed the project, because it’s been so unanimously supported and appreciated and backed by the community,” Galinson said.