Draft:Jennie Hinchcliff

Jennie Hinchcliff (b. 1973) is an American artist, author, educator, and advocate involved in the mail art community. She is recognized for her work in promoting creative correspondence and organizing collaborative projects that engage participants in hands-on artistic activities. Her work within the correspondence art community includes projects that highlight mail art as an art form and provide public insight into alternative artistic processes, including mail art, artists' books, and zine culture.

Early Life and Education

Hinchcliff's involvement in the mail art community began with an interest in letter writing, paper arts, and philately. During her early years, she crafted hand-drawn envelopes and maintained correspondence with pen pals. In 1991, she moved to San Francisco to pursue higher education, temporarily pausing her postal activities. By 1996, she connected with the Bay Area’s correspondence art scene through engagement with San Francisco’s zine culture and, through the mail, met correspondence artists like Anna Banana, Harley Francis, Picasso Gaglione, Julie Jeffries (Ex Posto Facto), and Ginny Lloyd.

Career and Contributions to Mail Art

Hinchcliff has actively promoted correspondence art to a new wave of artists by teaching workshops, giving presentations at conferences, and publishing articles on the topic. Her studio and mail art works incorporate techniques such as collage, rubber stamping, textual elements, and abstract drawing. Her approach to mail art involves creating small-scale postcard editions, artist stamp sheets, and zines that are handcrafted, signed, and numbered.

Red Letter Day (2005-2015)

From 2005 to 2011, Hinchcliff produced the mail art zine Red Letter Day. Each issue had a theme and included mail art project announcements, articles, and submissions from other artists. She credits Red Letter Day with introducing her to a broader group of correspondence artists from around the world and inspiring her to organize postal projects and exhibitions of her own. Hinchcliff's mail art alias, "Red Letter Day," is an extension of this project and has become synonymous with her mail art style.

From 2009 through 2015, Hinchcliff maintained an active blog titled “Every Day Should Be a Red Letter Day.” which chronicled her mail art and teaching activities.

Good Mail Day (2009)

In 2009, Hinchcliff co-authored Good Mail Day: A Primer for Making Eye-Popping Postal Art with Carolee Gilligan Wheeler, published by Quarry Books. The book serves as a guide to creating mail art, guiding readers through DIY projects, and providing information about the genre. That same year, the Smithsonian National Postal Museum featured Hinchcliff and Wheeler in an article titled “Take a Break From Tweeting and Send Mail Art.”

San Francisco Correspondence Co-op (2011)

In 2011, Hinchcliff founded the San Francisco Correspondence Co-op, a monthly social club for mail artists and postal enthusiasts. The Co-op operates as a member-led organization, with members taking on various roles to sustain its activities. Monthly meetings feature demonstrations, showcases of members’ work, and discussions on mail art practices. In 2023, the Co-op was featured in a KTVU interview. on the group's activities. Inspired by the San Francisco model, other Correspondence Co-op groups have been organized in cities such as Portland, OR, Chicago, IL, and Puget Sound, WA.

Ex Postal Facto (2014)

Hinchcliff organized the Ex Postal Facto conference in San Francisco in February 2014, modeling the event after mail art congresses of the 1980s. The three-and-a-half-day event included presentations, vendor exhibitions, social gatherings, and the exhibition mail/art/book, which displayed works from mail artists worldwide. Event venues included San Francisco Center for the Book, Chronicle Books, and the San Francisco Public Library. The event was covered by Hyperallergic. for its role in bringing attention to the West Coast mail art scene.

Senders Receive Podcast (2021–2022)

Between 2021 and 2022, Hinchcliff produced the podcast Senders Receive: Making Mail / Sending Art. The podcast included discussions on the creative processes of artists engaged in postal exchanges. Interviewees included Sas Colby, Sally Wassink, Mitsuko Brooks, and C. Mehrl Bennett. As of summer 2023, the podcast is on hiatus.

Feministo 2024 Project (2024, ongoing)

Hinchcliff launched the Feministo 2024 Project to connect women in the mail art and encourage the use of physical documentation through the exchange of mail art. The project is inspired by Ginny Lloyd’s Blitzkunst questionnaire project and Monica Ross's Feministo: The Women's Postal Art Event (1975–1979). The initiative involves compiling participant responses into collaborative zines, which are then distributed among contributors.

Notable Projects and Curatorial Work

• Hinchcliff has been invited to speak about contemporary mail art practices, alternative art histories, and the intersection of artists’ books and correspondence art. She has presented or been interviewed by institutions such as the Smithsonian National Postal Museum, the American Printing History Association, San Francisco Center for the Book, and the United States Postal Service.

• She has curated exhibitions focusing on correspondence art, artists' books, and alternative publishing processes, including mail/art/book (2014) and Cognitive Distance: The Bookworks and Thoughtforms of Timothy C. Ely (2022) at the San Francisco Center for the Book. In 2023, she co-curated Positively Charged: Copier Art in the Bay Art Since the 1960s with Maymanah Farhat, focusing on the history and legacy of copier art in the Bay Area. The exhibition was one of the first to explore the artistic and creative impact of copier art as a social and political medium.

• Hinchcliff has contributed articles to journals and magazines on topics related to mail art, artists’ books, and alternative art practices. Her writing has appeared in The Blue Notebook, Artists Book Yearbook, Kolaj Magazine, Book Art Review, and Bound & Lettered, among others.

Archival Work and Current Activities

Hinchcliff maintains a personal mail art archive as well as an archive of correspondence art and materials related to Good Mail Day and the Ex Postal Facto conference. As the Director of Exhibitions and Artist Programs at San Francisco Center for the Book, she oversees curatorial projects, artist programs, and public events. Additionally, she maintains an active studio practice focused on correspondence art and artist stamps.

Additional resources

• Presentation for Creativity Explored's Mail Art Club
• "Discover the Joys of Mail Art" on Puget Sound Book Artists
• “Jennie Hinchcliff, Co-Author of Good Mail Day” on Stationery Orbit
• “Missing Mail: As Postcards Celebrate 150 Years, They’re Also Disappearing” on San Francisco Chronicle
• Red Letter Day Zine website