Moody the Zine: Curating Creatives

Rachel Hausmann Schall

What began as a project prompted by the pandemic and is now connecting creators from around the world, Moody the Zine has independently published over 20 issues since infiltrating the zine scene in January 2021. Moody delivers bi-monthly zine (short for magazine) publications straight to subscriber mailboxes. With representation of all types of artistic mediums and processes including the visual arts, literary arts, music, and film, the zine features BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) and queer-identifying creatives. Each issue highlights the work of six artists, ranging geographically from cities like Milwaukee and Minneapolis to Melbourne and beyond. 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, founder Melissa Mursch-Rodriguez began Moody out of curatorial necessity. Because people were no longer gathering in person at exhibition spaces, Melissa was inspired to continue her curatorial interests with risograph-printed zines. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2018 with a BFA in studio arts, Mursch-Rodriguez found it challenging to remain focused on just one art form. She became interested in curating and programming events that encouraged interactivity, with connection as a common thread… and Moody was born. 

Moody the Zine platforms creatives via a standard and free submission process. From there, Melissa curates the submissions into each publication. The selected artists, writers, musicians, poets, and makers are encouraged to create something new for the zine upon acceptance. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a completely new piece of art or writing, however. Melissa is drawn to the preliminary stages of the artistic process and appreciates the beauty of experimentation. She likes to include sketches, notes, inspirational images, drawings, or alternative formatting to present contributors’ work in new and exciting ways. Melissa says she wants creatives to “use Moody a way to experiment and think about their work or artistic practice differently and play around in a way they aren’t used to,” This approach leads to visually intriguing zine spreads, eye-catching designs and layouts, and a wide variety of artistic mediums, styles, and subject matter represented in each issue. The bi-monthly publications aren’t the only thing that Moody offers. Special publications like a recent poetry issue, collaborations with organizations like Butterfly Collective and Braided Magazine, and an anthology edition that features content from the first year of Moody contributors are also available.

Thanks to the zine’s growth and recognition over the past two years, Melissa has received grant funding from No Studios, The Open Fund, and gener8tor.Art for her work with Moody, allowing each artist to be paid for their contribution to the zine. Moody now participates in markets, fairs, and events, making the zine accessible to wider audiences. Melissa is finding fresh ways to support artists and promote their work at upcoming events. By revisiting the archive of Moody’s contributors, Melissa is curating exhibitions with a similar foundation upon which the zine is built. Taking inspiration from the behind-the-scenes nature of the artistic process, Moody will exhibit finished artworks alongside sketchbook pages, mementos, inspirational photos and texts, drawings, and notes to showcase creatives as more holistic makers. Melissa says, “There’s not a lot of opportunities for artists to exhibit these parts of the preliminary stages with their finished work and there’s a sense of intimacy with those ephemeral objects. More ‘traditional’ types of exhibitions can feel inaccessible to some who don’t have the visual art vocabulary or who may not necessarily know how to interpret art, and this type of work allows people to understand it on a new level and is something that feels familiar.” 

The transformation of moving Moody “off the page” and into the gallery post-pandemic means that exciting things are on the horizon for the zine. Platforming creatives and supporting the work of BIPOC and queer makers by embracing their processes will remain at the center of Moody’s mission. Visit moodythezine.com to learn more and connect on Instagram at @moodythezine

Download a free one-page zine by Moody the Zine