March 1 will mark 15 years since the Boston Compass newspaper (BCN) was first published. The free, monthly arts and culture guide began as a single sheet of xeroxed paper, advertising DIY music shows in the different neighborhoods of Boston. Now, at Issue #178, this artist-run, grassroots paper has grown to 8 pages that include editorials, news features, comics, illustrations, and a diverse collection of local event listings. With distribution spots at 7 street boxes and dozens of local businesses, the newspaper has a print circulation of 7,500 issues.

While the newspaper reaches this impressive milestone, its future is uncertain, especially as political conditions threaten cultural institutions that give local creatives a platform to share their art and express their opinion on current events. Over the years, BCN has featured hundreds of cartoonists, illustrators, and writers. To celebrate our 15th anniversary, we hope to continue uplifting Boston’s local culture by organizing a Crowdfundr campaign and a raffle to raise $15,000 for our annual operating expenses. 

Photo Credit to PomPoison

This Crowdfundr campaign started as a conversation at the end of December with Sam Potrykus, the founder of the Boston Compass . My name is PomPoison, and I am a cartoonist for BCN Comics Season 8 and volunteer campaign organizer. At the publication’s “Confront Your Issues” party, an annual celebration for the successful year of issues, the conversation centered around the ways in which the newspaper is in jeopardy.

BCN may be forced to close its doors in April due to budget concerns. The constant pressure of managing dwindling resources had done much to dampen Sam’s spirits, and with his recent diagnosis with Multiple Sclerosis, Sam has had to reimagine ways to meet the formidable challenge of funding the newspaper. Though maintaining his previous responsibilities are now much more difficult, Sam invited residents of Greater Boston to “dream big but stay grounded” in his “Notes From the Crew” piece from Issue #170, and by December, he still wanted to find ways to pull BCN out of its doomsday trajectory.

As an independently published adult cartoonist, my story concerning crowdfunding is one of adapting to increasingly hostile spaces. Since social media platforms have rarely divested from increasingly horrific censorship against queer adult art in the past decade, should I want to earn income with my published works, I need to earn it with grassroots support.

I can’t share most of my art on Instagram because Meta penalizes references to the erotic, but the owner of Meta still gleans profitable data when I log in to consider the risk. At least while social media is so driven by intolerance, belief in online publicity is belief in an illegitimate institution that can crumble under my feet at any time.

Around a large table covered in last year’s newspaper issues, composed with mission and soul behind them, the topic of discussion was this year’s newspaper problems: paid opportunities for artists are scarce, and so are sustainable grant opportunities for art nonprofits. It sometimes feels like we are just passing around the same twenty bucks.

It’s no coincidence that the party was called “Confront Your Issues.”

Yet one instrument is wonderfully sharpened to confront the issues in this increasingly exploitative media landscape : the fact that we’re a free newspaper that provides cartoonists, illustrators, and writers in Boston with paid opportunities. Earning enough income to pay rent has only gotten harder for my peers and me in recent years, but when the Boston Compass puts a signal boost out for the undiscovered artist or local business, they also help us develop our professional networks and encourage interest in our underground work.

While the current political climate and administration has made social media platforms hostile territory for creative communities, leaving many folks like you and me in economic free fall, we cannot give up on the Boston Compass as a resource. BCN wants to continue platforming local artists and writers, especially those who are marginalized. 

We need you to spread the word. Print is back. Let’s raise $15,000 for our 15th Anniversary special!