Longtime besties Chloé Chonnaughton and Haley Vivenzi are mom-friends in the Sonoma County art scene. Both artists themselves, they know that, even in their little North Bay nook, it can be hard to break through and gain followers. So they decided to make the proverbial refrigerator door on which their peers could share their art, in the form of Effable.
Effable Press began in April when the two were perusing the magazine section of Powell’s Books earlier this year, inspiring them to start their own magazine. “Haley and I very good at jumping the gun on things and putting our all into it before actually thinking through the logistics,” explains Chonnaughton. “She did the logo, we made the Instagram and enamel pins for this thing that we had no idea what we were doing. Four days later we were like ‘Oh shit, we actually have to make a magazine now.'”
According to Vivenzi, “We chose the name Effable because it means ‘able to be put into words.’ Also it’s funny!” The zine acts as a platform for local artists whose mediums inherently have a harder time building local followings, like fiction, poetry, and cooking recipes. Creating an event space that shines an equal amount of spotlight on artists of those mediums, as bands and visual artists is the focus for Effable.
“Music and visual art is so cool but we don’t see enough written art,” says Chonnaughton. “There’s not really a platform for it at shows, unless you’re a poet, and even then, you might only get to open for a band every once in awhile.”
Vivenzi reflects too on how the difficulties and trials of creating exposure for yourself in local scenes can intimidate people from even trying. Effable Press is an outlet catered to those people.
“I love Santa Rosa and the people, but there is a little bit of cliquey-ness in the art scene that is really hard to push through, so I feel like it’s a lot easier over the internet,” Vivenzi elaborates. “Everyone is welcome here, you don’t have to talk to me or be scared. I’m just like ‘You are good. If you want me to give me a thing to print, you’ll be in it’!”
Issue 001 will be available this Friday. You can order it here, or at the release party at Atlas Coffee in Santa Rosa.
Effable #001 Release Party feat. Mercutio, Slow Bloom, Brown Bags
Atlas Coffee
August 17, 2018
7pm, $7
