Pizza Island was a shared cartooning studio space in Greenpoint,

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

established in 2010. It was established by

Sarah Glidden Sarah Glidden (born in 1980) is an American cartoonist known for her nonfiction comics and graphic novels. Biography Glidden was born in Massachusetts, to a family of Jewish background. Glidden studied painting at Boston University. She began ...

Julia Wertz Julia Wertz (born December 29, 1982) is an American cartoonist, writer and urban explorer. Cartooning career Wertz was born in the San Francisco Bay Area. She made her name with a comic strip titled ''The Fart Party'', which Atomic Books antho ...

, and

Domitille Collardey Domitille Collardey (born 1981) is a French cartoonist and comic book designer. She is best known for her founding the Chicou-Chicou comics collective with Aude Picault. She lives in Paris and Brooklyn, NY. She is a former member of the cartooni ...

, and included

Kate Beaton Kathryn Moira Beaton (born 8 September 1983) is a Canadian comics artist best known as the creator of the comic strip ''Hark! A Vagrant'', which ran from 2007 to 2018. Her other major works include the children's books '' The Princess and the Po ...

Meredith Gran ''Octopus Pie'' is a webcomic written and drawn by Meredith Gran, and coloured by Valerie Halla and Sloane Leong. It focuses on the misadventures of two 20-something women living in Brooklyn, New York. It was updated every Monday, Wednesday and ...

Lisa Hanawalt Lisa Hanawalt (born June 19, 1983) is an American illustrator, writer, and cartoonist. She has published comic series, as well as three books of illustrations. She worked as the production designer and a producer of the Netflix animated series ' ...

, Karen Sneider, and Deana Sobel Lederman. Unintentionally, it consisted of all-female cartoonists.

History

and

had the idea to create a shared cartoon space in October 2009, just as

was planning to move from her native France to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. The location of Pizza Island was discovered on

Craigslist Craigslist (stylized as craigslist) is an American classified advertisements website with sections devoted to jobs, housing, for sale, items wanted, services, community service, Gig worker, gigs, résumés, and discussion forums. Craig Newmark ...

. According to Glidden, the name comes from a nonexistent restaurant they were mistakenly seeking one night. Pizza Island was located in Studio 2J at the Morgan Fine Arts and Film Center on 649 Morgan Avenue in Greenpoint,

. Their studio was semi-annually open for tours and some Pizza Island members would offer prints and artwork for sale.

Group

, an American cartoonist known for her nonfiction comics and graphic novels. *

, an American cartoonist, writer, and urban explorer. *

, a French cartoonist and comic book designer. *

, a bestselling Canadian comics artist and the creator of the webcomic strip

Hark! A Vagrant ''Hark! A Vagrant'' is a webcomic published by Canadian artist Kate Beaton between 2007 and 2018. It discussed historical and literary topics in a comedic tone and was drawn in black and white. Recurring themes ''Hark! A Vagrant'' is best kn ...

. *

, an American cartoonist and the creator of Octopus Pie who is currently a comics professor at the

School of Visual Arts The School of Visual Arts New York City (SVA NYC) is a private for-profit art school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design. History This school was started by ...

. *

, an American illustrator and cartoonist, the production designer of

Bojack Horseman ''BoJack Horseman'' is an American adult animation, adult animated Black comedy, black Comedy drama, comedy-drama streaming television series created by Raphael Bob-Waksberg. It stars the voices of Will Arnett, Amy Sedaris, Alison Brie, Paul F ...

, and the showrunner of

Tuca and Bertie ''Tuca & Bertie'' is an American animated sitcom created by cartoonist Lisa Hanawalt for Netflix. It began streaming on May 3, 2019. It stars Tiffany Haddish and Ali Wong, with a supporting cast including Steven Yeun, John Early, Richard E. ...

. * Deana Sobel Lederman, an American illustrator and cartoonist. Despite its resemblance to a cartoonists collective, Pizza Island cannot be considered an

artist collective An artist collective is an initiative that is the result of a group of artists working together, usually under their own management, towards shared aims. The aims of an artist collective can include almost anything that is relevant to the need ...

because there was no shared project or collective rules imposed upon the Pizza Island members. Instead, each was encouraged to pursue her own independent projects, including such different projects as Kate Beaton's comedic webcomic

to Sarah Glidden's 20-page political comic on

Iraqi refugees Refugees of Iraq are Iraqi nationals who have fled Iraq due to war or persecution. Throughout the past 30 years, there have been a growing number of refugees fleeing Iraq and settling throughout the world, peaking recently with the latest Iraq ...

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

. Though the cartoonists worked on separate projects, sharing the space caused them to create lasting connections, such as the friendship of Kate Beaton and Lisa Hanawalt,. Being around each other influenced them enough to learn from the others' art styles, comedy, and subject matter. While working, the cartoonists often engaged in conversations and critiques to benefit their comics and illustrations.

Disbandment

Pizza Island announced its disbandment on January 17, 2012 with a satirical blog post written by Wertz, detailing their "cat fights" and "screaming" upon ending this "all-male" studio, as well as lampooning the different cartoonists with exaggerated caricatures of their personality (such as Lisa Hanawalt lovingly drawing a horse as she speaks, having Sarah Glidden run away from the interview with art supplies tumbling out of her clothes, and detailing a failed relationship between Julia Wertz and a parasitic twin growing out of Lisa Hanawalt's back). In reality, the cartoonists parted ways at the end of the lease while retaining their friendships and creative alliances.

References

External links

* * {{cite web , url= https://pizzaisland.wordpress.com/2012/01/17/rip-pizza-island/ , title= RIP Pizza Island , date= Jan 17, 2012 , quote= Disbandment announcement Comics groups and collectives American artist groups and collectives 2010 establishments in New York City Arts organizations established in 2010 2010s in art