Anima Animal Zine Project

Ellie Herman

When Art Division student Leslie Martinez spent the summer of 2022 as a Getty Marrow Intern, she didn’t imagine that she would be able to bring what she learned back to Art Division’s gallery space. But after eight weeks of working with the Getty Center’s staff on their publications, when she returned to Art Division and learned about the winter “Animá Animal” student show, she was inspired to suggest that the gallery create an exhibition catalog. “I was always into wanting to preserve the artworks that we did here,” Leslie said. Her experience gave her the confidence and the experience to make her dream a reality.
She brought her idea to Art Division’s Graphic Designer Guillermo Perez, who was immediately enthusiastic about the idea. “We’ve wanted to make the exhibitions more complete for a long time, so designing a catalog or zine to accompany them was one way to do that,” Guillermo said. 
After much discussion, Guillermo and Leslie decided that a zine format would be the best way to showcase the exhibition’s work. “We thought a zine instead of a proper museum catalog would be more accessible to the students and more fun,” Guillermo said Leslie was enthusiastic about the idea of a zine. “I did a digital zine on my own about my grandma’s kitchen - I really enjoyed the process of writing and designing how to put it on the pages,” Leslie said. The opportunity to work with Guillermo gave her the chance to take her work to the next level. “I thought, let me see the process Guillermo goes through - that’s something I want to explore in my art career,” Leslie said.

The two spent countless hours designing the zine’s layout. “The most challenging thing was getting all the pieces, all the artwork and all the artwork descriptions, all before the deadline,” Guillermo said. But despite the time pressure, Guillermo was impressed by Leslie’s professionalism. “Leslie was eager to learn about graphic design in general and about how do you make a zine, how do you make a book,” Guillermo said. Both found the process rewarding. “The most rewarding part was when I got to design my part of the zine and Guillermo liked it. I was so glad he was proud of it,” Leslie said. For Guillermo, the finished product made all the work worthwhile. “The fact that it actually got finished was really rewarding, it’s been really well-received by everyone who’s seen it,” Guillermo said.

VIctor Reyes, Art Division printmaking instructor, was impressed with the zine. “They did a good job figuring out the layout and colors. And it’s good to have a zine to go along with the show. That way the viewers have a better understanding of what the show was about and what the artists were thinking about in the process of creating the work,” Victor said. 

Because of the zine’s success, Art Division now plans to print a zine or catalog for all future shows by students.

The “Ánima/Animal” show, along with the zine, can be viewed until May 6, 2023 in the Art Division gallery.