Hear ye, hear ye: Splat, in jest, welcomes artists, print- and zine-makers to a ‘clown hall’

The Splat jesters would love for you to attend their March 3 clown hall. What’s “clown hall”?

“It’s a town hall, but silly, I guess,” said Nanette Cloud, Splat jester of juggling. “I don’t know, not that silly, but it’s done by silly people.”

“Very serious clown business,” added Etta Vee, jester of ink imps. Translation? Vee is in charge of all things printing, one of the services offered by Splat.

Splat, an artist co-op, had been trying to find its structure, and at their meeting on the evening of Feb. 24, they arrived at their answer: flat. Nine jesters, all with specific duties, each with a single vote. Oh, and those monthly clown hall meetings, open to the public at the Splat shop – the inside of the (South Cedar) Milk Bottle where Blue Door Theatre calls home. Cloud will deliver Splat news, including any upcoming events or opportunities to get involved, and the public can voice whatever they’d like, too.

Splat plans to offer design services, workshops and courier services, which will include satellite kiosks at other shops that want to stock zines or other Splat artists.

Mikki Tike, jester of couriers, also works shopkeeper shifts. Being a jester means that person specializes in a particular aspect of the co-op. Additionally, nonjester artists can consign and sell art at Splat.

Splat’s space in the Milk Bottle is painted in a splatter design with bold colors. A clown is painted peeking from a rectangle on the ceiling. Why clowns? Well, there was a lot of clown art to start, “because weirdo, queer artists like clowns,” Cloud said.

Alana Shepherd, jester of administration, added, “there’s a bit of a subversive element to it.”

The two discussed clowning as a form of civil disobedience.

“That’s a really effective way to fight back against fascism, right?” Cloud said. “Because the thing about fascists is that they are pathetic losers who have very tiny egos.”

“That’s what the blow-up frog suits are about,” Shepherd said.

The clowns have punk meaning behind them, and so do the zines.

“They’re not just a tool for publishing silly pictures. They’re a tool for community building, right?” Cloud said. “Unlike posting to the internet, right? If you post your comic or your Bluesky rant or whatever, to the internet, it lasts for like five minutes, and like 100 people scroll past it, and I guess maybe they’ve been mildly affected by it. But with a zine, you hand it to someone, and you have a conversation about it, and then they give it to a friend, or they cherish it for a long time.”

Cloud emphasized zines as a way of distributing information in a way that can’t be censored or controlled. Interrobang stickers cover the doorway. Near the front window is a clothing rack, with pant hangers clasping protest posters; leftovers from their Jan. 31 grand opening. When an ICE protest was scheduled for that day, Splat shifted, reaching out to artists in the community to make protest posters, which they then handed out to protesters for free.

“We’ll continue to print and distribute posters as the need arises,” Shepherd said.

Tike recently published their first zine, telling a story about the 48 hours they spent at the Spokane County Jail. The title? “Torture Motel.”

Cloud said zines are also part of the trend of people returning to tangible, physical media, such as CDs, partially as a reaction to AI.

“They’re going to make AI be a part of everything moving forward, whether we like it or not, and whether it’s good for the environment or not, whether it’s good for culture or not,” Cloud said. “… It’s the next horrible thing, right? I think a lot of people who have come to be a part of Splat, either working directly with us, consigning with us, or just hanging out with us and coming into the shop to support local artists have felt that dread and found this to be sort of a breath of fresh air.”

Splat sales are divided into different “buckets”: paying the artist, rent, shopkeepers, general fund and operational fund. Along with their nonhierarchical jester leadership, this was solidified on Feb. 24. Rather than a traditional lease, Blue Door Theatre charges a percentage of their sales.

Splat has relationships with organizations like Spark Central, Spokane Zine Fest, Spokane Print & Publishing Center, shops that stock zines, like Giant Nerd Books and more. The jesters are hoping Splat can be a valuable asset to the community.

“I have felt like this is less of a puzzle that needs pieces to fit together, and more like a clay model that we’re all collectively molding together to create something that everyone can be happy with in some way, if not entirely,” Tike said.