Breaking Newz: Ribbon Zine available now!
A collaborative zine on the spiritual, political & cultural dimensions of water within Kitchener, by Artist in Residence Ellie Anglin and 36 local artists and writers.
I am so proud to share that Ribbon Zine, the product of my Artist in Residency with the City of Kitchener, is officially launched into the world today! Ribbon Zine has been an immense labor of love & culmination of so many aspects of my creative career & passions. I am deeply grateful to the City of Kitchener for honouring me with the title, for supporting my work practically & financially & giving me the freedom to connect with artists & activists & organically create one of the projects I am most proud of.
How Ribbon was born:
Ribbon Zine was one of my biggest projects ever, but somehow it feels like it came together so easily. Almost as if I was being directed by a force outside of, and bigger than, myself. Or maybe it was the invaluable support & assistance I received from Karoline Varin & Eric Rumble - City of Kitchener staff & dedicated supporters of the arts - that made it feel so natural and easy. I consulted & collaborated with people who seemed to come into my life for the purpose of creating this together. Ribbon contains a 4669 word essay of my thoughts, feelings and research on the local watershed, including the artists and activists who honour Willow River, its colonial history and the story behind its many names (originally O:se Kenhionata:tie, it’s now most commonly known as Grand River) & the creeks, streams, rivulets, puddles, plants, bodies, hoses, taps, rain, mist & dew through which water connects us, transcending the ideological barriers that separate us. These words are illustrated by collage, drawings, previously created local water based artworks, pictures of the watershed submitted by community members & poetry fragments. Original artworks by 34 of my favourite local artists that were created at a ritual-based watery workshop at 44 Gaukel are interwoven throughout the publication. After printing, community members & artists gathered at InterArts Matrix to attach thrifted ribbon bookmarks to each copy of the zine. & thus, Ribbon was born! This zine is for all of us, & I hope readers will get a fraction of what I got from creating it. Please see below some sample pages, & read on to find where to get your hands on the zine!
Sample essay pages:
Some of my fave pages from local artists:
Copies of Ribbon Zine are available at:
On my website (for free porch pick up or the cost of shipping)
Jane Bond (005 Princess St)
Princess Cafe (46 King St N)
Whoopsie Daisy (1 Victoria St S Unit1)
Marlowe Grooming & General Store (74 King St W)
Willow River Centre (Til the end of July, 243 King St E)
The Yeti (14 Eby St N)
Coming soon… Full Circle Foods (16 King St E)
Coming soon… Kitchener Public Library (85 Queen Street N, 1500 Block Line Road, 251 Fischer-Hallman Road, 175 Indian Road, 150 Pioneer Drive, 100 Rosenberg Way)
Precious Thanks:
Thank you…
…to my greatest support An Hawkins & to our muse Morris Hawkins.
…to the All Nations Grand River Water Walk: This Anishinaabe ceremony honours the water and reminds us of our responsibility to offer kindness to her spirit. In the course of my research I had the honour of attending two water ceremonies, one lead by Mary Anne Caibaiosai & the other by Laurie Minor. These experiences were immensely powerful & became one of the greatest inspirations behind Ribbon Zine. I really enjoyed their spaghetti dinner fundraiser at Sterling Mennonite Church & met other water lovers, learned from Elder Water Walkers, received yummy food & medicine (thanks Sel!) & danced in a giant circle with 100 other supporters. Learn more about their monthly ceremonies on Facebook, support their up-coming Auction Fundraiser & this year’s Grand River Water Walk (September 21-27, 2025 from the river’s source in Dundalk to where it empties into Lake Erie).
…to the Creek Collective: The many works & each member of the Creek Collective (a diverse group of interdisciplinary artists who create work in response to —and alongside — Schneider Creek in the Grand River Watershed) were primary influences for Ribbon Zine. Thank you for your work & contributions & friendship! Their latest project is an extended audio-tour of Schneider Creek called Channel Migration, which you can listen to here. I was so moved that writer/narrators Geoff Martin & Syd Lancaster included content from Ribbon in the final station of Channel Migration. Mark September 13 2025 in your calendars for CreekFest in conjunction with Homer Watson House & Gallery’s Art Fair!
…to the Willow River Centre: I have been inspired by O:se Kenhionata:tie/ Willow River Centre/ Land Back Camp since I first became aware of their work in 2020. In the course of creating Ribbon Zine I received consultation from former Artist in Residence Bangishimo, Amy Smoke & Olivia Alli about the Residency, Indigenous histories of the watershed, naming of the waterways & zine making. Ribbon Zine is a product of their generous willingness to share their work & knowledge. I’m indebted to them too for creating a vital space for the local Two-Spirit & Queer Indigenous community, providing space for QRIB & supporting Distribution Arts. I urge you to read this article & support them to secure a sustainable, permanent space.
…to the Textile: Textile is a hyper-local arts collective supporting writers & artists through mentorship, publishing & curation. I am indebted to Textile for always supporting my work, and to Shalaka Jadhav & Fitsum Areguy especially for their advocacy, consultation & support that helped make Ribbon Zine possible. Textile is constantly generating new, creative ways to showcase local artists & writers, especially those who are traditionally under-represented. Follow Textile on Instagram & join me on June 26 at 6:30pm for the opening of “In this act of burial”, on the lawns of Schneider Haus 🌷.
…to Zinetopia: Sid Drmay & Zinetopia helped promote Ribbon & zine culture & creation in general in Kitchener. Sid also edited the zine & taped ribbons in like 500 copies. I tell everyone I can to go to their wonderful monthly Zinester Meetups at Whoopsie Daisy, and keep an eye out for the upcoming Zine Machine & Zinetopia Zine fairs!
…to the Queer Community & all of the work & culture that is being created by 2SLGBTQIA+ people and groups in Kitchener. During my Residency I took two sessions of Sashay & Slay Drag Dance class with the wonderful Mattie James, met lots of cute frenz & created my drag character Esmerelda Spanx. I distributed Ribbon to a sea lovely queer folks at tri-Pride’s Summerfest and it was a joy filled day of community & resistance. My dear friend Suzie Taka, Executive Director of Spectrum connected my family to so many lovely & supportive fellow queer families & has created a radical support network & we’re deeply grateful for Spectrum’s Saturday Morning Breakfast Clubs among all the other programming they do for our community.
…to Kitchener Public Library who I’ve worked with since 2017 & have used the library since I was a kid. It’s been a forever source of information & culture & community in my life & now also supplies me with a constant stream of wonderful, inspiring people (staff & customers), a beautiful free space to work & organize & have meetings & (soon) to distribute Ribbon Zine.
… to Hydrogeologist Steve Shikaze and his watershed maps (who I was connected to through my friend Gwyneth Mitchell during the creation of Ribbon). You should be sure to check out his beautifully illustrated map of the Grand River Watershed in Ribbon Zine & find more maps of watersheds near & far on The Water Droplet.
…to The Voice of the River: Thank you to Tristan Vogel for connecting me with The Voice of the River Grand River Community Play Project & to Peter Smith, Marcia Ruby & Pat Flood for including me in their Voice of the River art exhibit at the Princess Twin Odeon Gallery, up for the month of June. Be sure to check out the Community Play Project & Parade on August 8 at Joseph Schneider Haus.
…to Sheila McMath & InterArts Matrix has been an integral part of this project, as it was A Hole In The Ground & the Flow Exhibit that helped inspire me to take on this subject. Sheila provided valuable consultation & InterArts Matrix hosted the Ribbon Gathering.
…to the entire Public Arts Working Group for selecting & advocating for me & especially to Brenda Mabel Reid for encouraging me to apply.
…to KW Writer’s Alliance for supporting my work & having me at BookFest!
…to the great Marinus DeGroot who interviewed me about Ribbon on Promenade Radio Magazine.
…to Amanda Oliver, Head of Archives & Special Collections at Laurier University. I had the great pleasure of delivering Laurier’s Spring Lecture for 2025. You can watch the recording of my lecture “Zines: Then & Now” here.
…to Janice Jo Lee, Frankie La Fae, Rebecca Redden, Ben Gorodtesky, Alanah Jewell, Courtney Skye, Susan Coolen & Mary Abdel Malek Reid whose work I reproduced or referenced in Ribbon.
Thank you to Ellie Clin, Geoff Martin, Kaitlyn Lajoie, An Hawkins, Kate Swift, Michelle Purchase, Kathy Dawson, Anya Steffler, Anne Jung, Amanda Newhall, Dylan Prowse, Melissa Fitzgerald, Sam Staresincic, Grace Carr, Gord Spence, Mike Sousa, Lisa Attygalle, Kristin Rahian, Caroline Wesley & Amber May for contributing photos & videos.
Thank you to An Hawkins, Karoline Varin, Katarina El-Hariri, Rafi Samer, Andrea Filiatrault, Nadine Badran, Kaitlyn LaJoie, Meagan Snyder, Emmy Anglin, Caroline Wesley, Moppet Preschool & my dear nieces for providing practical assistance, childcare & tech support so I can do this stuff.
Thanks to Eric Rumble, Karoline Varin, Andrea Hallam, Brenda Mabel Reid, Shalaka Jadhav, Sid Drmay, Alanna Schwartz, Nadine Badran, Jackie Bradshaw, Bridget Ramzy, Meagan Snyder, Emily Anglin & Ann Thompson for edits.
Congratulations and thank you for your vision on this project, Ellie!
so proud to be counted among such talented artists :D