Collegiate Times

When loosely translated, “schmatte” is a Yiddish word for “rag.” To the local art community in the New River Valley, “The Schmatte” is also a monthly publication that showcases a variety of artwork from local contributors.

The creators of “The Schmatte,” Kaily Schenker and Cambria Mcmillan-Zapf, began the publication after a trip to New York where they discovered how many free publications were available in the city. This also made them realize how few Blacksburg had.

While in New York City, the two stayed in Williamsburg, a neighborhood in Brooklyn.

“It was such a close-knit community and they had some notable pulications that inspired us,” Mcmillan-Zapf said. “We realized there was a need in our area for something similar.”

Mcmillan-Zapf and Schenker put together the first issue of “The Schmatte” in September after asking for contributions from family and friends.

“We just told people what our idea was and asked for help,” Schenker said. “We wanted to provide Blacksburg with a not-too-serious forum for art, and they liked the idea.”

For the two girls, who have been friends all their lives, committing to creating a monthly publication was a bold endeavor. McMillan-Zapf, who is 17 years old, travels from Roanoke by the Smart Bus to see Schenker, 14. Neither has a car nor Internet access at home. They are both home-schooled, which has been advantageous in working out schedules.

“It’s allowed me to spend more of my time pursuing other interests, which I love,” Mcmillan-Zapf said.

In addition to their budding editorial careers, the girls are involved with numerous other creative endeavors. Mcmillan-Zapf, who has been dancing all her life, is a ballerina with the Southwest Virginia Dance Company.

Schenker has aspirations to be a professional cello player, and the two make up two-thirds of the Granden Trio, a classical music group that they also formed independently. Mcmillan-Zapf and Schenker also host a show on WUVT FM once a week.

Being so involved in the community helps to give them inspiration for the “The Schmatte.”

“It’s almost like creating a little community itself, giving people a chance to have their art in something who wouldn’t necessarily have it displayed anywhere else,” Schenker said.

The publication itself is very simple in composition, with a basic layout of black photocopies stapled together.

“It’s crudely done on purpose. It’s all handmade and the point is to be different,” Mcmillan-Zapf said. “At first we weren’t sure how it would be received, but we’re very pleased.”

Every month on the full moon, “The Schmatte” is published and consists of a diverse collection of contributors ranging  from drawings by Schenker’s six-year-old brother to art from Virginia Tech students.

The idea was to have a more tangible connection among people in an environment where more commonly, connections are made through social networking Web sites.

“We made ‘The Schmatte’ to challenge the facade of social interaction, to make its existence more of a reality,” Mcmillan-Zapf said. “‘The Schmatte’ challenges that with a neighborhood feel.”

To Mcmillan-Zapf, “The Schmatte” is built from ideas in the community.

“We want it to be a cooperative,” she said, “a part of the community. It’s an idea. We are ‘The Schmatte’ and ‘The Schmatte’ is everyone.”

A version of this article appeared in the Feb 2 issue of the Collegiate Times.