Self-discovery in art and community: Treehouse Zine

The “zine,” an art form that showcases identity and expression through self-publication, is the medium of choice for the local Athens art community Treehouse Zine.

The self-published, limited-circulation publication is the brain-child of founders, Eliana Gelman, and Aryan Thakur, Surya Blasiole, Grey Cohen, Mars Brown, Emma Scott, Sophie James, Sydney Robinson, and Evie Krakovski. The zine was once merely a passionate idea in Gelman’s head. Through Treehouse, she envisioned a community for Athens’ artists and collaborators to come together as one, in spirit, art, and celebration of themselves.

In a community-based party, Treehouse celebrated the release of its fourth issue on Sunday, Dec. 3. The past year has borne witness to Treehouse Zine’s transformation from a joy-filled activity among friends to a sprawling community.

These ten-to-forty-page booklets mirror who Treehouse Zine is as an organization. The zine is abstract, commentary-filled, and deeply entrenched with feelings of acceptance and emotional understanding.

To begin the creation process, the organization reaches out to students and other Athens locals for submissions. After the submission period ends, the team works together to decide the order, placement, and overall setup for the zine before hosting a party where the zine can be bought, friends can mingle and all are encouraged to partake in other community-based activities.

Treehouse Zine sets itself apart from the traditional way of zine-making by way of conception and execution, favoring the use of multiple people in the community rather than just one person or a small team.

The zines can contain anything ranging from poems, paintings, sketches, Spotify links or diagrams — as long as it is original and has a visual element.

With the team’s combined effort, a cohesive story tends to emanate off the starchy pages more often than not. Telling tales of longing, acceptance, fond memories, the uncertainty of the future and more, the fourth issue of the zine contains the emotions of what feels like an entire city’s population, not just the 34 artists featured on the individual pages.

“All of the work that comes in is so incredible and so different from one another. This time we had more than double submissions and double the length.” Gelman said. “One of my favorite parts of the layout process is when things come together. We don't have any kind of requisite for the submission… yet somehow when things are put on the page, there is some cohesion, visually and conceptually.”

With the help of the University of Georgia Arts Collaborative, Treehouse Zine commits to going the extra mile with their hosted events. These beacons for creative expression feature student vendors, dedicated shared art areas, music performances from local artists and more unique interaction-based activities.

Viv Awesome, the final music act of the night, has performed and sold art at Treehouse events in the past.

“It's been crazy watching it grow… The first [release party] was chill and it had a lot of great people. [Now] you're seeing the same people [from] the first one and at the fourth one, plus all their friends… It's great,” Awesome said. “The community that Treehouse is building is just so much fun and just such nice people, such creative people.”

Among the more traditional zine creation areas, the event featured a D.I.Y. memory tin station and a stamp design area. Treehouse also incorporated a fruit synthesizer hooked up to a visual processor, allowing for abstract creations on both spectrums of sound and sight through contact with one of the fruits on the table.

Additionally, there were many attendees at the party who had collaborated with the organization in one way or another. Whether being a featured artist within the zine, a musical performance on the night’s setlist, a vendor selling their various self-made arts and crafts or even a combination of the lot.

Senior scientific illustration major Kamryn Krishnan was one of several vendors at the event, selling handmade prints and illustrations.

“I have a lot of friends who are part of Treehouse, and so I follow them on Instagram and I saw a bunch of people posting about this,” Krishnan said. “[The release party was] very moody, I would say. I feel like it’s more electric and energetic than I thought it was going to be, honestly–in a good way.”

The bottom line to Treehouse Zine is: come as you are. Whether you want a place to sell your art pieces, hang out with friends, perform in front of a crowd or create some art of your own, this organization stands in front with their arms spread wide, ready to accept any and all of those who are ready to submerge themselves within the fastest growing art community in Athens.

As for the future of Treehouse, Gelman aims for both a larger and tighter-knit community as they continue to grow.