Friday, April 13, 2018

HVLA Spring Meeting 2018

By: Celia Dillon
The Brearley School 



HVLA’s Spring Meeting was a hands-on workshop about ‘zines hosted at the Drawing Center in SoHo. Attendees were led by five experts who guided us through the process of making a zine and shared with us tips for how to teach with zines. Our experts were zine-maker and CUNY librarian Elvis Bakaitis, #blkgrlswurld ZINE creator Christina Long, book artist and professor Esther K. Smith,  Kat Fajardo, and Aya Kakeda. Librarians of all experience levels were in attendance, ranging from complete newbies to librarians who were already teaching graphic storytelling units or leading zine making groups with students. 



Expert worked with a group of librarians to design a zine using art supplies, stamps, and magazines. At the end of the session zines were showcased in a museum format as participants walked around and observed each others’ work. Being able to work surrounded by the drawings of Terry Winters, which were on display at the Drawing Center was a highlight, as was seeing how varied each group’s creations were, and how well the zine format supports all kinds of creativity. 


Elvis, one of our zine leaders shared, "Such a great event; lovely to see more connections between librarians and zines, which are a perfect fit. I heard some excellent ideas about encouraging creative expression among kids, and even the rumor of a giant 3-foot-tall zine (!) at one of the schools."  

Aya, another leader shared, "My group made an accordion book which each person had a page and were connected by the simple horizon line through out the whole book. Our theme was "understanding and celebrating diversity." After each person is done with the page we all looked at the images and edited and decide which page goes where. Editing process was very fun, we tried to come up with the visual story through the book.  I had a fantastic time making this book with the members of HVLA.  Thank you so much for the opportunity!"

Maggie, one of our participant shared, “I was had the pleasure to work with the charming and talented Aya Kakeda during yesterday's wonderful Zine and Comic Book Making Workshop. Each member of the group made a two page spread out of any materials of their choice (collage, colored pencils, stamps, stamp hole punchers) related to the theme of Difference. At first, I was suspicious of how our vastly different styles would converge to make one cohesive zine.. but as we finished up and Aya guided us through some ideas on how to order the pages and assemble in the accordion style, it emerged with elegant simplicity, and was even tied together with a loose, dreamlike story.”


Looking to learn more or weren’t able to attend our HVLA meeting? Check out Comics and Zines for Everybody at the Brooklyn Public Library on April 28. 

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