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4 Dubuque Ink and Art Expo 6 LGBTQ+ Health 16 Meet Halea, our New Intern! 20 Zodiac 22
Events
Headquarters Community Productions 299 Main Street #44, Dubuque, IA 52001 Co-ZINE is a monthly, online publication. Links to this publication are found at www.codbq. org/cozine, but Co-ZINE is not an affiliate of Co Dubuque. The view represented in Co-ZINE are strictly those of their authors and do not represent the views of Co-ZINE or Co Dubuque staff members or volunteers. Advertisements involving products or services are not investigated by Co-ZINE and Co-ZINE does not claim responsibility for these products or services. © 2017 Community Productions
Editor in Chief Andrea Becker
Call for Writers and Artists
Layout and Design Alina Crow Publisher Luis Morteo Owner Cindy Lewis Contact Co-ZINE contact.cozine@gmail.com
We consider submissions from members of the LGBTQ+ community and allies. Articles • Personal Experiences • Opinion Pieces • Photography/Art • Journalism • …and more! Submit to contact.cozine@gmail.com Notification Applicants will be notified November 25th, 2017.
Letter from the Editor
Dear Readers: We are late this month and we’re not sorry! I just recently moved, and we got a new intern (you can meet her at the back of this issue), Luis is changing jobs and everything seems to get crazier every month. Next month will mark our one year issue of Co-ZINE. We have had an amazing, strange year. It sometimes feels like I have died and been born again in that time... so much is different now. So next month, when we celebrate one year, we’re changing our speed. Co-ZINE will be released quarterly after that, and we’ll be able to provide you richer content, longer issues, prettier pictures - and hey, maybe before January, you can get your best stuff together and submit for publication, too. We would love, love, love to hear from you. As always, you can reach me with questions and comments at contact.cozine@gmail.com.
Andrea Becker, editor in chief
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EVENTS
EVENTS
See community events at www.codbq.org and www.cozinemagazine.com
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September
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SIMPLY YOGA
interview by Cindy Lewis, transcribed by Halea Griffin
Mark, thank you for doing this interview with us. Anyone in the Dubuque area that has tattoos or knows someone that does has heard your name. You have a good reputation. Tell us about Ink and how you got established in the community. Mark: I wanted to tattoo probably from my freshman year of college and my brother saw me going through that. I was working in Wisconsin because it wasn’t allowed in Dubuque. I was in Wisconsin tattooing names while I was in college, and then when I came back here, he wanted to be my business partner and help me open up a studio. It just made sense: I already knew all of the parts and pieces needed to run a studio and I could actually make more fair
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wage, because working for someone else is tricky. When you’re working for yourself, you can use your money how you see fit versus how someone else’s business model works. My old boss was willing to put down money for that. We found this building and did all the remodel stuff and I helped him do the stuff that I could help with. All the while, I was still tattooing. November 2008 was when we opened and it was just that August when Dubuque changed the ordinance so that you could tattoo without having a doctor on staff. There weren’t any tattoo shops in Dubuque, so got it going. How long have you been tattooing? Greg: Fifteen years. Mark: I started my freshman summer, so that would have been 2006. I usually tell people about twelve years but part of it was an apprenticeship when I was still learning.
Tell us about a time you felt your credibility as an artist was challenged and how you responded to it. Mark: It can happen on weekly or monthly basis, just dealing with people. When designing tattoos, it’s sometimes it’s like people want you to do someone else’s
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tattoo. You say, “That’s someone else’s artwork.” I don’t wanna do someone else’s artwork because they designed it especially for their client. I want you to have your own piece of artwork and also not plagiarize someone else’s piece. That sort of thing is frowned upon and I don’t have any interest in doing someone else’s thing. Maybe if it was like a Salvador Dali painting that someone wanted tattooed, okay, that’s an established piece of art. I’m not cool with copying other people’s tattoos.
Sometimes people come up with something that is a great tattoo but for whatever reason client is unhappy and rips you apart for it, even though it’s a good design. Whether its personal preference or whatever the case may be, it definitely happens. You just have to work through it and realize that it’s a tattoo so its permanent. At the end of the day it’s not like it’s the only tattoo I’m gonna do and I shouldn’t get super attached to it. You want it to turn out the best it can but if someone wants a different style – like a realistic rose, but
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they want it to be a cartoon – it may not be satisfying to you, but if they’re happy with it and you do your best job, that’s the important thing.
Tell us about some challenges that tattoo artists face that people outside the tattoo community might not know about. Greg: Our canvas changes every day – it whines and cries, it moves, it sweats, it can get tired, hungry and have limited funds.
Tell us about a time when you saw the positive effects of your art in the world. Mark: I’ve done tattoos for people who have gone – and are sometimes just going through – really tough experiences. The act of getting the tattoo helps them get through, helps them work through that process. I’ve definitely had really sad sessions with people where they’re telling me stories about loved ones who passed away or battles that they’ve had themselves, and by getting their new tattoo, they feel like finally it’s helping them get over whatever that last little hump was. They can move on with their life. I feel like it’s super awesome to be a part of something like that. I had a really neat moment in Baltimore last year: some random person saw our banner and came up to me and said, “Oh my god, I follow all your stuff. You’re such an inspiration to me. I’m just starting tattooing now, and I really
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love your work.” They were from some totally different state all the way on the other side, and they found me and told me.
Do you feel a greater sense of community or of competition among your artist peers of Dubuque and of the surrounding area? Mark: I feel more community. There’s a healthy level of competition and I feel like that needs to exist in any sort of atmo-
sphere, whether it’s a restaurant or a tattoo shop, I feel like there has to be some competition. It drives everyone to get better and that’s super important. We all need to grow and when the tattoo convention comes around, we see each other’s work and we all say, “Oh man, that’s really cool.” We’re constantly seeing each other, exposed to each other, and inspiring each other, so it makes you want to be better so I see competition as a positive thing.
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Is that the dynamic that you would hope for? Mark: Yeah, absolutely.
Public perception of tattoos has no doubt changed throughout the course of your career, how do you think the perception of tattoos became more favorable and why? Greg: I think the level of art that is done today is way beyond what used to be, with social media and T.V., people’s minds have changed. Mark: I think general exposure has helped a lot. As T.V. shows like Miami Ink became popular, it helped us by educating the general public about tattoos. People saw that tattoos aren’t a dirty or evil thing and it also shows that the actual establishments can be portrayed on television as not professional but like in real life you know that people can do it and it can be popular and it can be professional and it can also be unique and individual. I think Miami Ink bringing people’s
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backstories of their tattoos helped a lot with the general public and also employers because they realized people are getting meaningful tattoos: for their family, their loved ones, that sort of stuff. It’s not just dirty sailor tattoos, so I think the T.V. shows have helped us a lot. They also kind of misconstrue things for us. People think they just walk in and get something instantly and there’s no prep work, so it can be a little bit challenging but mostly it’s been very positive for us
Why did you choose tattoo art as your career and why did you choose to practice in Dubuque? Greg: I was a collector of tattoos and I decided I wanted to create them as well. I am from Dubuque, so that’s why I practice here.
What are the challenges of organizing and hosting such a large-scale community event? What do you hope to give and gain from it each year? Greg: Getting everything organized, from flyers, advertising, and awards to getting artists to participate. I hope to give artists a platform to showcase their work.
What do you think you provide to the community through this event that people can’t find anywhere else? Greg: It’s truly an event that combines all forms of art. We have had glass blowing, pottery, oil and acrylic paintings, watercolor, film, photography, and sculpture, performance art, and music all in addition to tattooing.
What unique perspectives can you offer about art, as a tattoo artist? Greg: Whatever ideas you have in your head, put it on canvas and share it with the world. Always challenge yourself to get better.
How do you think tattoos and art in general help to unite people?
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Mark: With the general artwork of it we’re able to inspire each other. Maybe we’re not doing a particular style or maybe we’re not doing a certain thing; by seeing each other’s stuff, whether it’s in person or on Instagram or Facebook, we’re able to kind of reach out to each other and get inspired.
What do you think ties the tattoo community together, other than tattoos themselves? Greg: It’s all about the art.
Our magazine is an LGBT magazine, focused on literature, art, photography and stuff like that. Is there any experience that you can speak about, dealing with the LGBT community within the tattoo world? What was your first experience with dealing with maybe a newly married couple that wanted a tattoo or something? Was there any experience of this nature that inspired you, that was brand new? Mark: I had one couple come in, one of the guys was a librarian and he followed me online. They traveled here from a couple hours away, wanted this specific
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illustration from a specific artist. The guys had commissioned this artist to do the drawing to get tattooed, and that was really cool, just to talk to them, hear their story while I was tattooing. I’ve had all sorts of different clients, I don’t know. I guess you started after the HIV epidemic in the 80s and 90s, so that’s probably less on your mind… Of course you want to clean, after all… Of course it is, some people lower worry about that but I would say in my line… it’s all the same. Everybody fills out the waiver to say they don’t have medical conditions that we need to be concerned
about. It’s the same risk with any other person, it’s whatever – anybody can carry anything, after all.
What is your vision for future years of the ink and art expo? Ideally just keep growing it, so we have more visitors from all across the nation. Right now, we’ve got some artists from farther away, like Denver. Some artists used to live in this area and other ones just know about it. I want to bring in more artists from farther away, grow it so that we have more of the general public attending… that’s always a struggle with
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anything, just getting the community to kind of back it by visiting. If it grows that way, then we can grow it with more artists. The artists want more people and the people want more artists, so they have to cooperate with each other. We also do engaging stuff like side shows every day, pinup contests, beard and mustache contests, body painting, we’ve got a fine art competition with mime painting based off of models, an art gallery for anyone visiting. Tattoo artists or college
kids or local artists can display their work at the event. I’m trying to offer more and more things every year. If you’re not going to get tattooed, maybe you’re going just to look, there’s also stuff you can do throughout the day. It’s something you can do with a friend. Maybe they want to get tattooed – you still have the opportunity to have fun while they’re sitting there getting tattooed for hours.
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HEALTH
LGBTQ+ HEALTH
Drug Treatment Center Finder is a free webbased resource hub that strives to provide the most up-to-date information and available treatment services across the nation. Their goal is to provide resources to addicts and their loved ones in order to guide them to the help they need in order to rebuild their lives. They currently offer the following resources, with more to come: health screenings, informational and educational resources and data, extensive drug and alcohol addiction and treatment guides, nationwide directory of addiction treatment and mental health services. Visit their website at: http://www.drugtreatmentcenterfinder.com/
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Crescent Community Health Center (CCHC) is committed to providing equitable, inclusive care for LGBTQ patients and their families, who often face critical challenges in securing quality health care and the respect they deserve. CCHC’s staff recognize that LGBTQ patients often have unique needs that require equally unique responses. We have the range of experience and expertise to bring health, hope, and peace of mind to our LGBTQ patients, regardless of what issues they may be facing. Our services include: General Health Exams Physicals & Immunizations Preventative Care GYN exams, IUD Insertion/Removal STD/HIV testing
Specialty care referrals Chronic disease management Adolescent-specific care Acute care concerns Referrals given for mammograms, colonoscopy, age and gender appropriate services, etc. recommended by the U.S Preventive Task Force Crescent Community Health Center opened its doors in October of 2006. Founded by a group of dedicated board members, made up of the community who identified the need for primary medical and dental care for underserved populations. Since then, Crescent has been providing primary and preventative care to the members of our community.
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Meet the New Intern!
Hey Y’all! My name is Halea Griffin and I’m the new intern here at CoZine. I’m 21 years young, a Senior at Loras College, an Aries, and hopefully a future lawyer. I’m from Ann Arbor, Michigan (Go Blue!), and I’ve lived in Dubuque the past three years. I’m obsessed with animals. I have two dogs and two cats at home that I love dearly even though they’re jerks. 20 Co-ZINE | www.cozinemagazine.com
I also play Lacrosse, I played Field Hockey in high school, I’m currently in Choir, Moot Court, and Mock Trial, so it’s kind of a miracle I get any sleep. Between 6AM workouts and 10PM Lacrosse practices, I’m a master of taking naps. Bonus picture of Doggo 1. He’s almost seven and still acts like a ridculous puppy. Anyway, I’ve always been interested in advocacy and getting my voice into the world, so with any luck, I’ll be able to do just that thorugh my internship here at CoZine! I’m sure you’ll be hearing a lot more out of me sooner rather than later.
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What’s in y Aquarius
Aries
Gemini
Take a moment and breathe… Like really… stop and take a moment and breathe! Close your eyes and say, “What can I do to make things better?”
You reach out and keep your presence known. Just what are you trying to accomplish? Reeling in the old ways isn’t going to help you. It’ll hinder you.
Transitions are easy for you to adapt to, but are you going to adapt for the good? You need the friends who are true to you… have you been pushing them away with these new changes.
Pisces
Taurus
Cancer
New changes are good for you. Take the time to establish and filter the old out. You have a new opportunity for life, so take it and be happy.
You are doing a great job and people don’t tell you that as much as you’d like. But before you cast judgement… Are you telling yourself?
Yes… Say yes, because it is in your favor to do so. You are exceeding your standards and making things work quite well.
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your stars? Leo
Libra
Sagittarius
Make it be the kind of day you’d like it to be. If you learned that… Then you’d realize that you can actually do that everyday. Think about that for a bit.
Look for a log and stare at it. It might be more entertaining than what your week is looking like. Then again, is it boring or are you bored easily.
Everyone is on their journey and you are no different. Your way of life and views of life dictate it. Just because they are your ways, doesn’t mean they are anyone else’s.
Virgo
Scorpio
You deserve love and love deserves you. Being the amazing person you are and letting go of the other nasty thoughts will attract what your heart desires.
Don’t blame others for what you are doing. You’ve made your own bed. Changing the sheets doesn’t take away the problem… It’s still your bed.
Capricorn You keep coming to terms with yourself and others, yet revert back. However, the process is helping you learn more.
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