The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art (MoCCA) is a

not-for-profit arts organization A not-for-profit arts organization, also known as a nonprofit arts organization, usually takes the form of a not-for-profit organization, association, or foundation. Such organizations are formed for the purpose of developing and promoting the w ...

and former museum in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

devoted to

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...

s and other forms of cartoon art. MoCCA sponsored events ranging from book openings to educational programs in New York City schools, and hosted classes, workshops and lectures. MoCCA was perhaps best known for its annual small-press comic convention, known as MoCCA Fest, first held in 2002.

History

MoCCA was founded by Lawrence Klein in October 2001. It was located at 594

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

in New York City. On July 9, 2012, MoCCA announced that it would be closing its physical location, effective immediately, due to fundraising difficulties. On August 2, 2012, MoCCA announced plans to transfer their assets to the

Society of Illustrators The Society of Illustrators is a professional society based in New York City. It was founded in 1901 to promote the art of illustration and, since 1959, has held an annual exhibition. History Founding The Society of Illustrators was founded on ...

, providing MoCCA with a street-level location in the Society's

Upper East Side The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 96th Street to the north, the East River to the east, 59th Street to the south, and Central Park/Fifth Avenue to the wes ...

building. It was confirmed that MoCCA Fest would continue to exist.

MoCCA Festival

The

MoCCA Festival The MoCCA Arts Festival, or MoCCA Fest, is an independent comics showcase that typically includes artist booths, slide shows, and educational panels. It was created by the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art in 2002 by bringing together over 2,000 a ...

(or MoCCA Fest) is an annual fundraiser for the museum (and now for the

). It is New York's largest

independent comics Alternative comics cover a range of American comics that have appeared since the 1980s, following the underground comix movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Alternative comics present an alternative to mainstream superhero comics which ...

showcase, featuring hundreds of creators and publishers on the main floor, typically accompanied with additional rooms devoted to educational panel discussions, slide shows, and interviews. From its inception in 2002 until 2008 it was held at the

Puck Building __FORCETOC__ The Puck Building is a historic building located in the Nolita neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It occupies the block bounded by Lafayette, Houston, Mulberry and Jersey Streets. An example of the German Rundbogenstil style o ...

. From 2009 to 2014, it took place at the

69th Regiment Armory __NOTOC__ The 69th Regiment Armory is a historic National Guard armory building located at 68 Lexington Avenue between East 25th and 26th Streets in the Rose Hill section of Manhattan, New York City. The building began construction in 1904 an ...

. In 2015, the event was split between two locations, with the exhibitors in Center548, and the programming at the High Line Hotel.Spurgeon, Tom
"MoCCA Announces Move Into Center548; Initial Guests,"
''The Comics Reporter'' (September 24, 2014)."MoCCA Arts Festival partners with the historic High Line Hotel to host weekend programming!,"
MoCCA Fest official Tumblr site (Jan. 22, 2015). Plans to convert Center548 to a residential property forced the Society to find new venue. From 2016 through at least 2019,

Metropolitan West Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a typ ...

has hosted the exhibitors with programming taking take place at Ink48. From 2002 to 2012, the museum presented an award at MoCCA Fest to an artist whose outstanding work elevated the comic art form. Originally known as the MoCCA Art Festival Award, it was renamed the Klein Award in 2009 in honor of MoCCA Founder Lawrence Klein. MoCCA Fest hosted the comics industry's 2004 and 2005

Harvey Award The Harvey Awards are given for achievement in comic books. Named for writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman, the Harvey Awards were founded by Gary Groth in 1988, president of the publisher Fantagraphics, to be the successor to the Kirby Awards that were ...

s.Press release (May 13, 2005)
"18th Annual Harvey Awards Winners to Be Announced in June 11 Ceremony in NYC"

Exhibits

In 2003, MoCCA opened its art gallery with the debut exhibit "Gag Art!", focusing on single-panel magazine cartoons. Subsequent exhibits included the relationship between New York City and cartoonists, an exhibition of women comic-book artists, retrospectives devoted to Stan Lee and

Will Eisner William Erwin Eisner (March 6, 1917 – January 3, 2005) was an American cartoonist, writer, and entrepreneur. He was one of the earliest cartoonists to work in the American comic book industry, and his series '' The Spirit'' (1940–1952) was no ...

, and "From Richie Rich to

Wendy the Good Little Witch Wendy the Good Little Witch is a fictional comic book character from Harvey Comics. Like Casper the Friendly Ghost and Hot Stuff the Little Devil, Wendy is an opposite-type character, a girl witch who does good deeds. Publication history Wendy ...

: The Art of

Harvey Comics Harvey Comics (also known as Harvey World Famous Comics, Harvey Publications, Harvey Comics Entertainment, Harvey Hits, Harvey Illustrated Humor, and Harvey Picture Magazines) was an American comic book publisher, founded in New York City by A ...

". Their ''The Art of Archie Comics'' exhibit was promoted with a story in '' Archie Digest Magazine'' #260, March 2010. The seven-page story, ''MoCCA Madness,'' was written by

Arie Kaplan Arie Kaplan is an American writer and comedian. He is the author of the book ''Masters of the Comic Book Universe Revealed!'', and a writer for '' Mad'' magazine. He lives in New York City. Career Although he is also a comedian and a cartoonist ...

and drawn by Fernando Ruiz. It featured appearances by MoCCA President Ellen Abramowitz and then-Director Karl Erickson, and was subsequently reprinted in ''Archie: A Celebration of America's Favorite Teenagers'' by Craig Yoe (IDW, 2011).

References

External links

* {{authority control

Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art (MoCCA) is a not-for-profit arts organization and former museum in New York City devoted to comic books, comic strips and other forms of cartoon art. MoCCA sponsored events ranging from book openings to educat ...

2012 disestablishments in New York (state) Art museums established in 2001 Art museums and galleries in New York City Broadway (Manhattan) Cartooning museums

Defunct museums in New York City Mass media museums in New York (state) Museums in Manhattan SoHo, Manhattan

History

MoCCA Festival

Exhibits

See also

References

External links