The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art’s “MoCCA Arts Festival” on April 2-3 features celebrity cartoonists and illustrators, art on display, and hundreds of small-press exhibitors.
Programming will take place at Ink48 at 653 11th Avenue at 48th Street, mere steps from the exhibitor hall at Metropolitan West.
This year’s guests of honor include:
Cece Bell: Children’s book author and illustrator Cece Bell attended the College of William and Mary where she studied Art History, and later attended Kent State University, earning a graduate degree in illustration and design. Her colorful, fun and quirky drawings can be found in her best-selling books Rabbit & Robot: The Sleepover, Crankee Doodle, Bug Patrol, Itty Bitty, Bee-Wigged, and the Sock Monkey series. In 2015, Bell received the Newberry Medal Honor for her graphic novel El Deafo, a story based on her own experiences growing up deaf.
R.O. Blechman: R.O. Blechman is a multiple award-winning and influential animator, illustrator, children’s book author, graphic novelist and editorial cartoonist. His many books include the groudbreaking 1953 graphic novel The Juggler of Our Lady and the forthcoming Amadeo & Maladeo: A Musical Duet. His work in animation includes The Soldier’s Tale and unforgettable advertisements for products like Alka Seltzer. He has received multiple recognitions including a Lifetime Achievement Award from The National Cartoonists Society in 2011, was inducted into the Society of Illustrators’ Hall of Fame in 2012. His work has been shown at The Norman Rockwell Museum, The School of Visual Arts, and MoMA.
Phoebe Gloeckner: Phoebe Gloeckner began cartooning after moving to San Francisco in the 1970s, and was greatly influenced by the underground comix movement led by artists including Robert Crumb, Aline Kominksy, Bill Griffith, Diane Noomin, and Terry Zwigoff. Her early work appeared in anthologies including Wimmen’s Comix, Weirdo, and Twisted Sisters. Both her 1998 collection A Child’s Life and Other Stories and the 2002 novel The Diary of a Teenage Girl: An Account in Words and Pictures received notable recognition as well as controversy for its honest portrayal of teenage sexuality with themes of drug use and childhood traumas. The book has been adapted into a theatrical production and a critically acclaimed feature film of the same name. She is the recipient of the 2000 Inkpot Award, received the Guggenheim Fellowship in 2008, and is currently the Faculty Fellow at the University of Michigan Institute for the Humanities.
Sonny Liew: Sonny Liew is a comics artist, painter, and illustrator whose work includes the New York Times best seller The Shadow Hero (with Gene Yang), Doctor Fate (with Paul Levitz), Malinky Robot and titles for Marvel Comics, DC Vertigo, and Image Comics. He has been nominated for multiple Eisner Awards for his collaborations on The Shadow Hero, Wonderland, and Liquid City, a multivolume comics anthology featuring creators from Southeast Asia. He lives and works in Singapore.
Rebecca Sugar: Animator, composer and director Rebecca Sugar’s groundbreaking career started as a writer and storyboard artist on the animated television series Adventure Time. She later went on to create the Cartoon Network series Steven Universe, and became the first woman to independently create a series for that network. She has received numerous Emmy and Annie Award nominations for her work on both series.
Access to programming on a daily basis is included with the price of admission to the MoCCA Arts Festival. Admission to MoCCA costs $5 per day. To be admitted to programming, attendees must display proof of ticket purchase for that day to the Fest. Tickets are available at the door at Metropolitan West the weekend of the Fest, and on-site at Ink48 during programming. This year’s programming schedule was curated and organized by MoCCA Arts Festival Programming Director Bill Kartalopoulos.