An interview on an envelope with Carolee Gilligan Wheeler

A zine maker, bookbinder, and librarian in San Francisco with a soft spot for old paper, used books, and weirdo art.

Carolee as a creative kid! I really love her drawing.

Carolee Gilligan Wheeler is a zine maker, bookbinder, and librarian in San Francisco. She has a soft spot for old paper, used books, and weirdo art.

You may have noticed that I’ve listed Carolee as a source of inspiration in several articles (like this one, this one, and this one). I met Carolee at Prelinger Library, where she volunteers every Tuesday. Carolee beams with creative energy, knowledge, and wisdom, and I feel lucky every time I get to spend a few hours with her, learning about her work and learning about other things I didn’t know I needed to learn about! She generously and abundantly pulls books for me to reference with full knowledge that she’s the one who’ll have to reshelve them. I love receiving her monthly snail-mail zine, Frequenzine, and newsletter, The Department of Excellence.

Since she’s big in the mail game, I thought it would be fitting to send her an interview in an envelope—or, on the inside of an envelope, to be precise. A really big, old envelope probably older than us both (some of us have a soft spot for old paper, okay?!? leave us alone). As with all mail art, I like the idea that the postal system becomes a collaborator in the project, adding texture and marks to the piece of mail during its journey. Here’s the interview, with my questions in black marker and Carolee’s responses in blue and red! Enjoy and be sure to check out Carolee’s work at practicebeinghuman.com and Frequenzine!

A closer look:

Thanks for reading The Museum of Small and Important Things! My name is Allie Sullberg and I’m an artist, writer, and illustrator. If you liked this post, a huge way to support my work is by liking, commenting, sharing, and of course subscribing!

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