Zines may not be the first word that comes to mind when you think of Phoenix, but we're a city that boasts a pretty vibrant DIY publishing scene. Scan the shelves of record stores and coffee shops over the years and you'll have seen stapled, folded, and hand-bound zines with evocative titles like Hoozdo, AZ Kaos, B-Sides, The Paper Plane, and Pages Per Content. The downside to this literary underground was not having a dedicated place to find all these amazing indie pubs. But over time, fests like the Underground Publishers Convention and Phoenix Zine Fest came around, along with businesses like Lawn Gnome Books, to help spread the gospel of zines. But nobody is doing it as well as the folks at Wasted Ink Zine Distro. Run by Charissa Lucille, WIZD is a home for chapbooks, photo zines, memoirs, how-to books, and a wealth of other DIY publications. Lucille also offers WIZD as a venue for open mics, skillshares, workshops, and even shows by touring performers like multimedia puppeteer Rae Red.

Yeah, their website has over 30,000 artist products, which is great, but the real treat is visiting one of the three Valley locations of Arizona Art Supply. The extensive independent Arizona Art Supply network has been around since 1951. This expansive store has everything from brand-name art supplies to artist materials storage, studio furniture, and art and tutorial books. The colorful aisles are stocked with paper, pads, pens, and paints, plus gift sets and your typical office supplies.