The Chattanooga Public Library and UTC’s Society of Ink and Paper will host the second annual Chattanooga Zine Fest, a festival of independently produced books and magazines, on May 16 from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. on the 4th Floor of the Library’s downtown branch. The event is free and open to the public.
The Chattanooga Zine Fest’s Call For Submissions is now open. Experienced and novice self-publishers should apply by April 17 via email to: chattanoogazinefest@gmail.com. Applicants should include a picture of their zine as a weblink in the email, using the subject “Zine Fest.”
The Chattanooga Zine Library is located on the 4th Floor inside the library’s popular makerspace, and is open to the public Tuesday through Thursday 2-8 p.m., Friday and Saturday noon-6 p.m. For information about Zine Fest and the library’s 4th Floor maker space please call 423-757-4750 or visit chattlibrary.org.
Zines are mostly small-scale amateur publications depicting content that simply can not be found through mainstream publishers. Zines can be about anything. They come in a variety of genres, including: perzines (personal journals and oral histories), fanzines (with topics that vary from pop culture to anime to sports), collections or taxonomies, politics, journalism, art and design, comics, literature, poetry, cooking, travel, and music.
Chattanooga Zine Fest 2015 will feature some of the area’s best local and regional zine makers; guided and self-directed zine-making activities; zine readings, trading and selling. In conjunction with Zine Fest 2015, The Open Press, a Chattanooga-based letterpress, printmaking and books arts cooperative, will present a book arts exhibit on the 4th Floor featuring a juried collection of handmade books from artists in Asheville and Chattanooga Monthly zine-related workshops will be held at the library on the last Saturday of every month beginning Jan. 31, from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. on the 4th Floor.
The Chattanooga Public Library’s zine project began in 2014 as a partnership with UTC Fine Arts Department faculty member, Aggie Toppins, who curated the Chattanooga Zine Library collection. In addition to a wide variety of newly published zines, the collection includes hundreds of donated vintage zines from private collectors and galleries, some historically and culturally significant. The partnership continues and expands in 2015 with UTC Fine Arts Department’s student-led Society of Ink and Paper taking the reigns. For pictures of the zine library, lab and last year’s fest, please check out the photos on Flikr.
The Chattanooga Public Library is committed to be a place where individuals don’t just consume content that others produce but have access to the tools, technology and space to create their own works in a variety of mediums. The library’s move to support the creation of self-published works by establishing a zine library and festival is part of the mission and evolution of the 4th Floor maker space, which also features state-of-the-art creation tools like 3D printers, a laser cutter, and vinyl plotter, alongside the zine making lab, a floor loom, screen printing and sewing.
The 4th floor is a public laboratory and educational facility with a focus on information, design, technology, and the applied arts. The more than 12,000 sq foot space hosts equipment, expertise, programs, events, and meetings that work within this scope. While traditional library spaces support the consumption of knowledge by offering access to media, the 4th floor is unique because it supports the production, connection, and sharing of knowledge by offering access to tools and instruction.