Newark Event: ‘Betty Zinefest’ Will Highlight Art From Women Of Color, LGBTQ People

NEWARK, NJ — A good “zine” can change the world. That’s the mindset that will bring dozens of creators and writers to Newark on Saturday, Oct. 7 for the Betty Zinefest 2017.

According to the festival’s organizing group, “The Bettys,” a 150-member independent art collective founded in 2013, the Betty Zinefest is run by young women of color and highlights the artwork of youth, women, people of color and LGBTQ/gender-nonconforming people.

The focus is to give a platform to those “whose voices are often marginalized,” organizers stated.

The 2017 festival will include more than 75 zine vendors, such as The Asian American Literary Review, Bandida Comics, Barnard Zine Library & Barnard Zine Club, Belle Krup, The Bettys, #Blkgrlswurld Blue Crow / Marco Padilla, BOOKLYN, Brooklyn Waste Collective / Destiny Washington, Brusque Babe, Cathryn Ploehn, Connie Boje, Danielle Fee, Emily McLean & Yesenia Moises, Femme Mâché, Fizz Publishing, Ginger, Hoax Zine, HOMIE HOUSE PRESS, Ife Olujobi / Townies, In A Rut Comics, Izzy Boyce-Blanchard, Karen Kaye Llamas, KOBY, La Liga Zine, La Chamba Press, Low Level, Maria Liebana, Mikela Sheskier & Sophie Barba, Morgan Sturgeon, My Life Is a Joke / Aimee Pong, paige hanserd, P-GLiTCHii, Pub(SEX)lic, Pyrite Press, Alyssa Spatola, Stephanie Rodriguez (Steph Guez), Susie Magazine, Stay Kind! Distro, Troll Hole & Friends, unbag, We're Hir We're Queer, Woke Inc., Worser Beings, and Zine Hug.

In addition, the festival will include:

• Workshops
• Art exhibitions
• An interactive photo booth and printmaking activities

Organizers said that the festival is being held with the support of Gallery Aferro and Paul Robeson Galleries at Express Newark, along with the Women and Gender Studies Program at Rutgers-Newark University and Express Newark’s Newark Print Shop and Shine Portrait Studio.

The festival takes place from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 54 Halsey Street in Newark. Admission is free. Click here for more information.

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