Last year’s “Winged Lion,” a joint production by the English and art departments, has recently won four awards.

The magazine has won first place with Special Merit and a special citation for Best College Literary-Art Magazine with Interactive CD from the American Scholastic Press Association. These awards were given out in January.

The other two awards were a first place design award or a gold “Addy” and a judges award for design from the Joplin Area Advertising Federation.

David Noblett, associate professor of art, said last year’s magazine was the first with an interactive CD.

He said the publication is trying to move into the electronic aspects of design.

Noblett said there was a big learning curve between last year’s production and this year’s production, because during the first year they did not know what to expect.

“I’m very proud of the students who’ve put their hard work into it,” Noblett said.

The magazine has won more than 30 awards in 10 years.

“Each year we come out with a totally new concept,” said Nick Kyle, associate professor of art and head of the art department.

The magazine is used by the department for many different things.

“It becomes a good tool for us to recruit for our department,” Kyle said.

Students who work on the magazine also use it as part of their work portfolios.

Teams are formed during November to work on the magazine. Judges select the student artwork that will be in the magazine. A similar process takes place in the English department. The teams start producing the magazine in January. The magazine is finished in March and comes from the printers in April.

“We were here until midnight for several weeks,” said Michael Sutter, senior graphics and communications major, who helped with last year’s magazine.

This year’s magazine will be out this April. The “Winged Lion” is free to everyone.

The art department is also hosting a “Southern Expo,” where there will be a round-table discussion with area designers including a Web designer for Wal-Mart.

The expo will also feature a poster contest for area students.

“To us, it’s a way to get high school students in to see the campus,” Kyle said.

The March 1 expo is open to anyone who wants to come.

Kyle and Noblett encourage anyone interested in any kind of design to attend.