Celebrating the First Moth Dreams Zine Release

Image description: Three images of community members and artists gathering at Turn! Turn! Turn! in Portland to celebrate the Moth Dreams Zine release. People are wearing various colors and smiling, surrounded by friends. The room is brightly lit from windows and hanging globes lights.

Sunday, March 5, 2023 – Disability Equity Center celebrated the first issue of the Moth Dreams Zine at Turn! Turn! Turn! in Portland this weekend.

Experimental artists, muscians and community members came to celebrate the contributing artists and get their first copies of the new zine. The celebration included collaborative music and jams with Magic Luscious Spirit Sounds.

Image description: Community members sit and stand at Turn! Turn! Turn! in Portland to celebrate the release of the Moth Dreams zine. Several people stand in the background. Four people sit and stand in the foreground, next to the bar. They are laughing and smiling. — Image description: Community members sit and stand at Turn! Turn! Turn! in Portland to celebrate the release of the Moth Dreams Zine. Several people stand in the background. Four people sit and stand in the foreground, next to the bar. They are laughing and smiling.

The zines are free to the community. Kate Williams, Director of Advocacy Supports at DEC, estimated about 100 zines were disributed. DEC also accepted donations, raising around $400 at the zine release party, which will fund future Moth Dreams publications.

Image description: Fengxian stands at a table of zines, ready to share them with the community. She is wearing a yellow beanie, she has black bangs and her black hair is tied into pig tails with teal and blue pompoms. She wears a shiny brown jacket over a dark green sweatshirt. The zines are light blue and multiple colors, stacked alongside cards of paper on red and white table tops.

In an interview with the Corvallis Advocate, Williams described the goal of Moth Dreams as,”first, to create a free, safe, and accessible community space to dream together and create art that was disability-led and disability-owned and then second, to share with the disabled and non-disabled community alike through a printed publication [that shows] the amazing works of disabled creators. A zine was such a natural choice with its root in the DIY punk free art values that connect so naturally to disability justice.”

Image description: Jason Schafer poses with a copy of the Moth Dreams zine open to pages with yellow, blue and red artwork. Jason is smiling with his right hand on his chest. He is wearing a blue and black shirt and has a black watch on his left wrist. — Image description: Jason Schafer poses with a copy of the Moth Dreams Zine open to pages with yellow, blue and red artwork. Jason is smiling with his right hand on his chest. He is wearing a blue and black shirt and has a black watch on his left wrist.

The Moth Dreams zine is composed of artwork submissions by artists of all abilities. Layout and design of the finished zine was made by Jeff Hale.

Read more about how Moth Dreams at DEC got started in this article from the Corvallis Advocate.

While Moth Dreams as been an established group in Portland, meeting twice a month on the first and third Wednesdays, a new Corvallis group will be starting in the spring: Moth Dreams Corvallis on April 27 at the DEC office in downtown Corvallis.

Image description: Artists and friends hang out at Turn! Turn! Turn! to celebrate the Moth Dreams Zine release. There are several people smiling and standing or sitting in wheelchairs. There are bright globe lights above them, and the walls behind them are dark brown.

With more art being made, there will surely be more events to celebrate the power and beauty of disability soon.

Special thanks to Geoff and Elizabeth of Turn! Turn! Turn! in Portland, and Jeff Hale for zine layout and design.