We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Mark Neuenschwander a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Mark, appreciate you joining us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

The biggest risk we’ve taken at our indie arts organization “the Joplin Toad” was the move toward printing a physical magazine. And for us, this meant not *only* producing a real, physical media item in time when decades-old-established magazines were shutting down physical operations and moving everything online. It meant doing so in a small city- in the heart of the midwest- gearing it stubbornly around local creatives, and even more stubbornly refusing to build ad revenue in a typical way.

This started for me (Mark, editor-in-chief) when I flipped through all the local magazines & papers laying out at my local downtown coffeeshop, and realized every one of them had an ads-first model; more or less, the content was not the highest quality and obviously served more as literary glue to fuse the ad spaces together than as passionate creative content. It was a far cry from the creative potential hidden in our city, and much of it felt like a corporate attempt to *appear* it was caring for its’ community.

“We can do so much better than this,” I thought. I knew that just by gathering the creatives in my own circle and channeling them all in the same direction, we could produce something unique, fun, still locally oriented, and most of all, something that Joplin (our city) could be proud of. Joplin was not a creative town, as a whole, but for whatever reason, it’s absolutely stuffed with creative people. Why not give them something to work toward together?

2019 was our trial run; we built a simple website, began hitting up every creative we knew, and gathered enough content to make a couple of ‘online magazine’ issues. It was a lot of work, but already a blast- it included a music video from a local band, photos & interview w/ a beloved elderly coffeeshop regular; an audio piece about a local haunted attraction; a satirical obituary for a local donut shop that had just shut its doors; a ‘journalistic’ video that existed solely to count the # of ‘puppers’ present at a local art walk; and several other articles, poems, photos, illustrations, and more. You can still see that original content at https://www.joplintoad.com/issue1 . We went on like this for a year or so- podcasts, locally driven satire on social media, various art and writings, ‘artist of the every other week’ interviews, all carefully gleamed from and about folks within a 50 mile radius.

But that wasn’t so much a risk- just a pet project. The real test of our ideas came when we decided that yes, we were crazy enough to actually consider PRINTING a magazine. It was the true proof of the “make the thing before you have a chance to overthink it” concept. If we’d thought too long on it- and listened to the more practical views around us hinting that this was a terrible idea- we would have either made another local publication that sucked, or not made anything at all.

We teamed up with a local designer who was in the right place at the right time to join in. Kayla was and is pivotal to making the magazine arm of ‘the Toad’ work, quickly becoming co-captain for the endeavor and shaping an innovative visual feel for the printed piece. We went with a cohesive theme for the issue itself- ‘the pandemic issue’ was pretty easy, since it was now 2020- and began not only reaching out again to our own circles, but putting out public calls for submissions.

We designed it. We edited it. We proofed it. We put out a call on social media for pre-orders, hoping to get enough folks to dedicate to buying an issue that we’d have enough money to pay a local printer to make us 250 copies. We stubbornly refused to do any ads at all, so it could stand alone as a publication of “artistic integrity” – aren’t we precious. But it really was, from cover to cover, devoid of the influence of corporitism- even if some of those pages included things as dumb as a printable toilet-paper themed coloring book section (because, 2020).

Did we make money? Meh. Not really. But we covered printing costs and had enough left over to buy us cheap stickers to sell as merch, and a round of coffee for the team while we began brainstorming the theme for the next issue.

We made 5 more issues after that- each one getting more ambitious rather than simpler or easier. We streamlined processes, of course. And yeah, we let go of a *little* bit of our stubbornness and began building in ads & taking sponsors- but our way (each issue had its’ own ‘ad theme’ and we built the ads like the rest of the issue- with our own designers and playing into our own ridiculous themes).

Did we burn out? Oh yeah. We sure did, big time- and there’s lots more to say on how to not only build a cool thing, but to keep it sustainable for your team’s mental health. Maybe something about being prepared for the mental effects of tumultuous political and pandemic seasons, too.

But we didn’t die, and after a 2 year absence in the world of magazine printing, we’re back at it, building a new issue for release in later 2025- as well as maintaining projects like tiny printed books, ‘Nic Cage’ themed art exhibits, and monthly online creative challenges (as well as lots of jokes about local lawyer billboards) to keep the community active.

It was worth it. It *IS* worth it. Because every time we see someone pick up one of these magazines- the 70+ page, printed, lo-ad local art magazine produced in what might feel like the most unlikely of places- we see their expression shift in real time. Not only “oh cool”, but “oh WOW. This is actually really really good.” And every time we get to tell a teenage poet, or an elderly photographer, or an artist barista, that their piece has been accepted into the new issue- we know we’re making this town a better place by encouraging the artists that call it home.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

The Joplin Toad is a locally oriented indie arts organization, founded by a small group of creatives in 2019. It has produced magazines, podcasts, video series, creative challenges, art exhibits, community events, tiny-book publishing projects, and collaborations of all sorts with over 100 local artists & numerous Joplin businesses and organizations. Its’ existence was more or less the local creatives’ answer to the tired line, “this town sucks” in regards to its’ titular city; all content created or produced by the Joplin Toad’s platform is BY the people of the greater Joplin area, showing a modest Midwest town that it is actually full of amazing creative people that only needed the right platform.

The Joplin Toad would love to remind every town, of every size, that there are amazing creative people hiding within your city limits- and then after that, even more yet within a 50 mile radius. It just takes the proper force to reveal and unleash them, to each-other and to their own community.

You want to make your small town/city better? Cooler? More with it? “Less sucky?”

The Toad’s approach to this- as clearly indicated right there in the name- is to aggressively maintain a local focus, but to do so in as fun and offbeat a way as possible. Hence, we often put our humor foot forward. We win over the community with our jokes first- (local lawyer billboards are a great target, they can handle it we promise). We’re silly and we know it, but this makes us more powerful, not less; we invite people in to laugh with us, and once they’re in, we hit ‘em upside the head with some art and end up leaving them feeling proud of their city maybe in spite of themselves.

Like most other cities- we’ve already got a local paper, so we don’t need to be journalists. We’ve already got local art galleries with established artists, and other proper arts organizations doing great things. We’re here to exist outside the cliques, to work with *everyone*. We’ve found that there are many, many artists, writers and performers who fall between the cracks; who have the capability for amazing work, but for whatever reason, are intimidated by even the local ‘art world’ and won’t dip their toes in it.

Through our platform, we’ve made sure to point to the good things already happening, and yes, happily collaborated with the already established artists and arts organizations here. But where our heart really is, is with the barista who doodles on your cup, the beautifully angsty teenage poet, the 70-something nature photographer, the “but-this-isn’t-“real”-art” designer, the digital illustrator who never printed a piece, the gifted comic book artist hiding in plain sight, and the Spanish teacher who loves to paint cheeky armadillos. And we’ve found, we don’t have to compromise quality to work outside the list of already-published or locally known artists- on the contrary, we care about quality a lot in our publications and exhibits, and have found plenty of it to go around.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

It always starts with creating a space for creative community. That can apply literally- a small town without a good coffeeshop is generally one that doesn’t have an art scene, just as an example. But it extends further into finding a way to hold space that feels safe for creatives.

Artists- especially in more rural areas- are often socially anxious, incredibly self conscious, introverted, and sort of just hiding out doing their own thing, unaware of the other artists around them. That is not *always* the case by any means… but then the ones that *are* good at self promotion and networking and navigating social circles, tend to dominate smaller spaces and only make it even more intimidating for those that aren’t yet part of that world.

The roots for “the Joplin Toad” came from a carefully cultivated safe space for local artists; a local group that still exists and jokingly refers to itself as “a group for people who hate groups.” And it’s been amazing, time and time again, to see what happens when a community like that forms. It doesn’t have to be big or flashy or have lots of well coordinated events- amazing collaborations, friendships, and creative projects *will* come out of any group of creative people that you can get to meet together regularly over a long enough period of time.

If no such group or space exists in your area that you know of- start one. Be consistent about meeting at the same time and place each week or month, even if sometimes it’s just you and one or two other people. Tell those people to tell *their* creative friends, and pick a simple topic each month (can be as practical ‘how do I market my art’ or as deep as “how has trauma shaped your own work?”). Keep the space safe. Don’t let it to get too huge (if it does, split it into smaller groups). Learn to gently shush the folks who talk loud and long, and to even more gently pull the quieter thinkers out of their shells. Set up conversations where they’re all learning from eachother, and watch if awesome things don’t start happening out of this simple concept.

If such spaces or groups do exist already in your area- figure out who is responsible for getting the artists in the room, and listen to their ideas. They’ve probably already been dreaming, already been part of collaborations, already seen ways that the arts could improve your town; see how you can help them.

The first thing is creating community just for the artists-and convincing each person not-yet-in-the-room that yes, they really are invited and welcomed even if they feel they’re not good enough to be there. The second thing is finding the practical ways you can support the ideas that come out of that group. Often, that straight up means money. But that’s not all.

-Murals need cans of paint and connections to building owners who will give permission to dream on their walls.
-Local zines need sponsors to cover printing- who care more about the community than return on ad dollars.
-Artist groups need coffeeshops willing to let them use their back room for free.
-Creative nonprofits need volunteers to be on boards and help with accounting.
-Proficient designers and illustrators- who will heighten the visuals in your town, across the board- need jobs with a working wage (else you’ll just see them keep moving away).

Any artistic effort from a group of passionate creatives, will need patrons and connections and help with the practical side of things. You don’t have to be a creative to help- find the people already dreaming, and use whatever resources you have to help them DO. And when you’re trying to convince the businesspeople and sponsors and patrons and building owners to give their resources toward these groups- remind them, that research will prove these efforts practically worth it in the long run. Communities known for their creativity, are also good for business.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

The Toad has maintained a persistent and somewhat irreverent sense of humor throughout its’ existence- even in moments when it was really pushing it to do so. We used to call ourselves a “humor and arts organization” and dropped the ‘humor’ part after an in depth conversation about how humor *is* an art and should be recognized as such.

The thought behind this approach? If you can get people to laugh along with you *about* your town- in a careful, specific way, that maintains a satirical spirit without ever being outright mean- you can actually get them to band together behind something and love the town all the more. And, as we’ve said time and time again, humor shreds through barriers quicker than just about anything. Small towns have *lots* of barriers- cliques, suspicion, lack of awareness, turf battles, gossip- and so far, we’ve worked through every single one.

Our favorite moment of really-pushing-it came out of our obsession with making fun of local lawyer billboards.

It may seem like a dangerous topic, but for us it was perfect; it’s something everyone gets tired of seeing over and over, and the lawyers can handle the joke because they already know damn well everyone has to be getting sick of seeing their faces everywhere.

So we went after the biggest lawyers in town; a very well known attorney couple who’d made a deal with the local billboard company, to literally just fill any billboard space that came open. Their faces were literally looming over highways in dozens of locations in our fair city, and to us, that made them fair game.

So we made jokes. In our magazine (a “spot the differences” running joke about two of the billboards that sat right on top of each-other), on social media, and more. We even made little ‘mini billboard ornaments’ at Christmas as a merch item. Our designer was quaking in her boots, repeatedly asking myself (the editor) and our humor editor (yes, that’s a role in our organization) why we had to go after the folks most readily equipped to sue us.

“WHY THE LAWYERS, for GODS SAKE?!”

But our readers and followers adored the jokes, which got shared (a lot) and increased our social following. Thereby increasing the chances the lawyers would see it and sue us. Ah well.

Finally, 2 or so years into this game- we’d leave them alone for awhile and come back at the joke in a different way- we learn that the leading attorney has, in fact, seen what we’re doing.

….And was forwarding our social media posts (about HIS face on billoards) to his staff, not to take legal action but because he thought it was hilarious. Finally, his business manager did reach out- not with a cease and desist letter, but asking if they could take our latest joke image (we used the ‘cartoonize me” app on a pic of the billboard) and put it on their ACTUAL digital billboards scattered around town, for the next week.

It was proof that our humor-driven approach was working. It kept an edge without actually hurting anyone, gave locals something to laugh at TOGETHER, opened up our presence to more people who will now experience more local art and awesomeness, and even provided something like joy to the butt of the joke himself.

This team of lawyers has since sponsored products and magazines for us, continuing the goodwill. We love it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.joplintoad.com
• Instagram: @joplintoad
• Facebook: /joplintoad
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@joplintoad846
• Other: We do have an online store, and we do ship orders, for anyone who’d like to own their own copy of one of our magazines or “tiny toad press” books.

  We know readers might not care much about the little city that we’ve geared things around, but we think that just about anyone who appreciates unique publications and good art, humor, and writing can still love it.

  www.joplintoad.com/store

  latest issue, specifically- ‘1987:VHS’ theme: https://www.joplintoad.com/store/issue-6