Twenty-seven students packed into room 372 Oct. 3 for the Cleveland Zine club’s inaugural meeting.

Returning for a second year, the club centers around the creation of miniature magazines, or “zines” for short. These can contain art and writing of any sort, on any topic. Participation, however, is not required, with some members using it as a space to work on their own projects and chat with friends. While it attracts those with a history of art, the club aims to be a place where anyone can get creative, and in fact encourages the making of “bad art” by all members, regardless of a person’s artistic skill.

Club leaders want to get zines out to the wider Cleveland community. They’re considering planting some around the school building, as well as holding lunch time “mini-symposiums,” where students can come together to share their work, and a “semi-secret library” for zines in a locker. They also hope to distribute to the outside world, at places like the library, the Independent Publishing Resource Center (IPRC), and local comic store Books with Pictures.

But the club isn’t stopping at ordinary zines — its leaders plan to create “a schoolwide journal of art and literature.” Also referred to as a “journal of whatever,” it would feature any sort of creative work, from any Cleveland student who wished to contribute.

One of four club leaders, Stella Greenvoss, says she wants the journal to be “something that people at Cleveland can share and have in common.”

Fliers have gone up around the school advertising it, with a QR code through which you can vote on the journal’s name and submit work. Greenvoss says, “CHS needs a publication that reflects the unrestrained creativity present in our student body.”

She hopes the journal will provide “a platform for creatives at Cleveland that most mainstream avenues can’t.”

While the endeavor is not fully a part of zine club, its members are highly encouraged to submit work to the journal, and the project is currently headed by club attendees.