Photographer Craig Kilgore
Photo owned by Carol Fox and Associates Public Relations

Intriguing “American Monomyth: Route 66 Today” Zine Series Showcased in Oklahoma City’s 10th Annual Zine Fest, Oct. 25

Photographer Craig Kilgore’s project anticipates 2026 centennial celebration of “The Mother Road”

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Craig Kilgore’s “American Monomyth” series of zines, inspired by his keen interest in travel and featuring a predominant focus on “The Mother Road,” Route 66, will be showcased in the 10th Annual Zine Fest at the Sanctuary, 1012 N. Indiana Ave. in Oklahoma City from 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 25. Zines are small, self-published independent magazines focused on niche or creative topics. Since 2016 the Oklahoma City Zine Fest has taken place each October. The fest features works by more than two dozen zine makers who hail from across the country. Admission to the fest is free. For more information about the fest, visit Facebook or Instagram at @okczinefest.

Kilgore, an Indiana-based artist and documentary photographer, will have 15 current issues of his “American Monomyth” black-and-white photo zine series at the fest. “Approximately 75% will be material taken during my March 2024 Route 66 trip,” says Kilgore. “Others will feature photos from my trips to Vietnam, Hong Kong, Cuba and more.”  Kilgore plans also to premiere a larger 48-page color zine at the fest featuring works showcased in his “American Monomyth: Route 66 Today” photo exhibition, currently receiving a gallery show at the Jewish Federation of St. Joseph Valley in South Bend, Ind. He will also have a limited number of matted Route 66 Oklahoma City-specific photos for sale.

U.S. Route 66 will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2026, established November 1926, as one of the original highways in the United States Numbered Highway System. Spanning more than 2,400 miles, the route became one of the most famous roadways in the U.S. Kilgore’s “American Monomyth: Route 66 Today” project features photos from Kilgore’s 2024 28-day open road journey following the path of the former U.S. Route 66, from Chicago through to Los Angeles, then back again. The extensive series continues Kilgore’s 25-year history of exploring vernacular landscapes with a particular focus on urban streetscapes and signage.

In addition to the fest, Kilgore’s “American Monomyth” zine series is currently available for purchase at Kilgore Books (no relation) in Denver, Colo. In addition, select issues of “American Monomyth” are available at Chicago’s Quimby’s Bookstore. A closer look at Kilgore’s work and process can be found on his Instagram @AmericanMonomyth.

While in Oklahoma City for the zine fest, Kilgore will be scouting locations for a full-scale gallery show as part of a series of pop-up art shows along several locations along Route 66 this spring. The shows are intended to culminate in a longer installed exhibit at the repurposed Apache Motel in Tucumcari, N.M. This tour will help highlight the upcoming 2026 Centennial events surrounding the 100-year anniversary of Route 66. For more information and updates about the pop-up art shows, visit Instagram @AmericanMonomyth.

Craig Kilgore Biography
Craig Kilgore’s work explores landscape and its human artifacts as both document and myth. Raised in the post-industrial Midwest, he grew to recognize and highlight contrasts and contradictions found within ordinary spaces. As a child, he absorbed the contradictions of place through the family grocery store his grandparents ran and his mother and aunts worked in. The store spent its entire 50-year life “beside a strip club/bar, an unlikely duo that shaped his awareness of tension in ordinary spaces.”
Kilgore’s early art centered around drawing, culminating with his high school senior drawing portfolio earning a National Gold Key in the Scholastic Art Awards, a distinction that offered national recognition and scholarship opportunities. Drawing proved foundational to his later photography and way of seeing, but he chose a path away from art when he entered Purdue University’s engineering program.

Influenced by his working-class background that put more value on his also-present analytic thinking and problem-solving skills, Kilgore earned his degree and gained first employment in the manufacturing sector as an Industrial Engineer specializing in process improvement.

The pull of art, however, led him back into academia. While earning an MFA in photography and printmaking, Kilgore began a body of work centered on urban signage, focusing on the textures of rust, weather, and abandonment. His eye gravitated to what remains after commerce moves on — traces that carry both presence and absence. This attention to the liminal continues to define his work.

Extended travel has also become central to his practice. He has created series from Cuba, Ethiopia, Southeast Asia, and across the United States, each rooted in close attention to streetscapes and the marks left behind by time and use. Over the years, Kilgore has embraced the photo zine as both a concise format to present each series in its entirety and a democratic way to share his work with a wider audience.

Kilgore currently resides in South Bend, Ind. For more information about Kilgore and his projects visit his Instagram @AmericanMonomyth.

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