Creative Campus’s new zine, “Art-let,” designed to showcase student artwork and creativity, generated conversations around campus following its first publication during finals week last semester, according to one of the project’s designers.
Ally Mabry, a junior majoring in digital media and printmaking, designed the logo for the zine. She said she realized the magazine was a success when a barista at Java City began talking about “Art-let.”
“I was really stunned by the amount of excitement I saw in response to the first issue,” Mabry said.
Katharine Buckley, a sophomore majoring in studio art, said the idea of “Art-let” came from a Creative Campus intern who was studying abroad in Italy over the summer.
“She found these wonderful little booklets in the subway that showcased art,” Buckley said. “We went from there, trying to translate that to the University’s campus and how we could make it work. We really wanted our main goal to make accessibility to student creativity effortless.”
Zines began as a way of self-publication for very specific ideas or topics that were out of the mainstream culture. They are often small books containing photocopies of drawings, handwritten texts and are intended for limited circulation.
“The initial main thought behind ‘Art-let’ was that we could create this quirky little pamphlet filled with student art and writing and post them in places where people are most likely to be waiting, like libraries, bus stops and the Student Health Center,” Mabry said. “It’s a treat for student artists to get their work published and handed out around campus and it’s an equal treat for students to pick up an ‘Art-let’ and be exposed to cool work created by their peers.”
Shannon Thacker, a junior majoring in printmaking, had three pieces of work — two prints and one painting — featured in the premiere issue of “Art-let.”
“I found out about ‘Art-let’ from some friends, and I thought it sounded awesome, so I submitted my work,” Thacker said.
Thacker said her works, “Peach Pit,” “Campfire” and “Untitled” were inspired by her observation and abstraction of nature.
Connor Fox, a sophomore majoring in public relations, worked on the “Art-let” zine and was also enthusiastic about the zine’s success.
“There is an immense amount of talent on this campus that deserves to be recognized, and I think students are appreciative and supportive of Art-let’s purpose to bring this work into the limelight,” Fox said.
Copies of “Art-let” can be found on campus in libraries, dorms, the SHC and certain buildings like Woods and Lloyd. Creative Campus is working to have the zine available at bus stops for their next issue.
Mabry said Creative Campus is currently designing the second issue of “Art-let,” which she hopes to have run by the end of January.
Students can submit their work to “Art-let” regardless of their major. A submission form is available on Creative Campus’ website at creativecampus.ua.edu/project/art-let. Students are then encouraged to email [email protected] with 5–6 photos of their work or 3–4 pages of writing.
