Behind the Zines
Behind the Zines is an engaging zine festival event for anyone curious about zines, creativity, and community! Held in conjunction with the exhibition La Raza Art and Media Collective this event celebrates the legacy of DIY art, publishing, and… you guessed it: zines.
The event will feature live demonstrations, a show-and-tell of historic zine collections, and hands-on workshops, where you can learn skills to make your own zines. We are thrilled to highlight the work of several Midwest zine and DIY-artists, including Atlan Arceo-Witzl, Leah Crosby, Marc Fischer, Cat Cassel, and Eric Von Hayes, who will share their knowledge and experiences.
Whether you’re a long-time zine fan or just starting to explore this creative culture, this event offers a chance to learn, connect, and celebrate the spirit of independent publishing in a welcoming space for all.
Free and open to the public. No registration required.
About the Zine Artists
Artlan Arceo-Witzl
Atlan Arceo-Witzl is a Mexican-American visual artist, printmaker, creator, and educator based in Chicago, IL. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Studio Art from Skidmore College. As a mixed-race Chicanx person his artwork synergizes graphic elements of image and text in moments of humorous mestizaje. His pieces draw from passing phrases, political movements, and palpable relics of the past, manipulating them towards a liberated future. He is an active member of the Chicago Printers Guild as well as Instituto Gráfico de Chicago, a collective of Latinx printmakers from across the city. In addition to his work as a teaching artist and printshop technician at Columbia College Chicago, he maintains his own freelance graphic design practice collaborating with various organizations including the Pilsen Housing Cooperative, Open Books, Code Switch Podcast (NPR), and the Chicago Tool Library among others.
Leah Crosby
Leah is an artist and educator who uses text, sound, performance, film, and sculpture to tell stories about care and human connection. They are currently one of three Creative Careers Fellows associated with the Arts Initiative and are part of the organizing team behind the inaugural Zine Jamboree.
Marc Fischer
Chicago-based Marc Fischer is the administrator of Public Collectors, an initiative he formed in 2007. Public Collectors aims to encourage greater access and scholarship for marginal cultural materials, particularly those that museums ignore. Public Collectors’ work includes the Library Excavations publication series and web project, Hardcore Architecture—a blog and publication series about where people in punk bands lived, and Quaranzine—which produced 100 single page publications with over 75 collaborators at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to Public Collectors, Fischer is also a member of the group Temporary Services (founded in 1998) and a partner in its publishing imprint Half Letter Press (ongoing since 2008).
Cat Cassel
Cat Cassel is a Lecturer in the Sweetland Center for Writing at the University of Michigan. She loves all kinds of creative and crafty things, from collage to watercolor.
Eric Von Hayes
Eric Von Haynes is a Chicago designer, printmaker, and educator. He operates Flatlands Press and teaches Graphic Design at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) and Print Media at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. As the President of the Chicago Printers Guild, he works to support and connect local printmakers, fostering collaboration within the community. In addition, he is a resident of the Chicago Art Department. His work explores analog and digital printing techniques, community-based projects, and collaborative publishing.
SUPPORT
Lead support for this exhibition is provided by the U-M Office of the Provost, the U-M Arts Initiative, Susan and Richard Gutow, the Michigan Arts and Culture Council, The Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design, and the U-M Bentley Historical Library.
