Zines!
For starters, you may be wondering what “zines” are.
Zines are handmade, self-published books that can be about anything. Basically the opposite of high-end magazines, “zines” (yes, short for “magazines”), became popular in the 90s as part of a feminist underground movement (or so I’ve been told). Zines consist of photography, poems, short stories, comics, collage, illustrations, a mish-mash, or anything really. A simple zine could be recycled bits of paper stapled together or a piece of folded printer paper. From a piece of paper folded in half to funky riso prints to complex cut-designs in pop-up zines — zines can be anything you want them to be: a meaningful story, thoughtful theme, or a colorful vomiting of whatever was in your head.
I started selling mini zines in November 2023 as a last minute idea to “bulk up” my vendor booth at markets, which was basically an experiment in itself. I also sold them at my favorite coffee shop from college, the Poulsbohemian. Quickly, I realized that zines connected with people while causing excitement and surprise unlike most other things I was selling. After a few markets, I realized I wanted to focus on zines.
This last summer, my friend sent me a link to a free zine fest in Seattle. On a whim, I signed up. Same goes for Bremerton’s second annual zine fest and Tacoma’s first! It was such a fun experience being around so many artists (or “Zinesters”) who love what they do. The swaps were the best and really helped me bulk up my zine collection.
A mix of artists and employees from the City of Tacoma looking around the McKinley neighborhood for potential public art projects
Around the same time, I applied to a call for artists for the McKinley Public Art Training Cohort. I applied for the smaller projects with two pitches: one community mural and one zine library.
A few weeks later I heard back and BOOMSHAKALAKA! I was very excited to score the zine library gig. It’s comical looking back, because while we were touring the block, our guides shared the community would LOVE to paint a mural — a zine library wasn’t mentioned at all. I was initially embarrassed to pitch it, but here we are!
If you’re in the Tacoma area, I hope you will consider making a zine and bringing some copies to the Little McKinley Zine Library (or “Zibrary” as a pal called it). I’ll post about more once it’s complete and on the street. Hooray for anti-pretentious art!