Proposal: It's in the Mail: Using Mail Art to Connect and Empower

Anna Mudd

Describe your project.
Our project is a series of workshops run by the Papercut Zine Library focused on mail and the postal system as a medium for independent print media, political activism, personal expression and communication. “Participatory, democratic, personal and expressive, as a form of artwork, Mail Art is sent, given or exchanged via the postal service.” Mail art transforms pieces of mail into art objects through the inclusion of collage, drawing, and other visual and sculptural enhancements.

Workshop #1: Speak Truth to Power (through the mail)
This workshop will be focused on mail as political activism, inviting participants to create mail art to send to individuals and groups within political, corporate, commercial, and civic power structures.

Workshop #2: Pen (pals) are mightier than the sword
Drawing on the work of mail artists ABC and Black and Pink, this workshop will focus on the role of mail in connecting to members of our community to silenced and marginalized communities such as incarcerated individuals.

Workshop #3: It’s in the Mail
This will focus on creating a zine in the form of mail art, documenting the history of the Inman Square post office as well as participants' personal experiences and reflections on the role of physical mail in their lives.

How will you use the grant to make your idea happen?
The grant would allow us to purchase materials, rent space, and create flyers to advertise workshop opportunities to a broad audience. The Papercut Zine Library is an all-volunteer run community resource that operates on an extremely small budget.

Why and to whom is your project important?
As a zine library, we promote print media that presents grassroots, low-cost, and fast ways to disseminate information. These mediums empower people who create them, increase the knowledge and awareness of those who read them, and form connections between the two.We intend to reach out to large range of potential participants, including K–12 students.

If you win, what is the expected status of your project by the time the next Feast Mass rolls around in 3–4 months?
We can complete all three workshops in that time frame.