Cover of VIA Issue 02, photograph by Rachel Wolfe
LOS ANGELES — It must have been kismet that I ended up sitting next to Julie Niemi at the ridiculous Dave Hickey lecture a few weeks ago. As I searched for an outlet to use to charge my iPhone — which had died approximately three times that day, its life force being sucked out by Google Maps’ constant attempts to direct me around Los Angeles — Niemi and I started talking about how we’d both ended up in LA by way of Chicago.
Niemi is one of four founding editors of the LA-based biannual print publication VIA, which is dedicated to the art, food, and music culture of Los Angeles. She and her colleagues, Ally Hasche, Casey Winkleman, and Claire Boutelle, founded the publication in January 2013 and have two issues available in print thus far. They’re currently accepting submissions for the third, which will be available in July 2014. I caught up with Niemi and Hasche to learn more about the roots of VIA, which is a beautifully packaged, glossy book-like magazine dedicated to LA culture and about the small-backpack size of Teen Vogue.
Read the interview on Hyperallergic: http://hyperallergic.com/110157/culture-by-way-of-los-angeles/
