The MoCCA Arts Festival, or MoCCA Fest, is an

independent comics Alternative comics or independent 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 su ...

showcase that typically includes artist booths, slide shows, and educational panels. It was created by the

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 educa ...

in 2002 by bringing together over 2,000 artists, publishers, editors and enthusiasts. It was named "Best Small-Press Comics Nexus Anywhere" by ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...

''. Since 2013, the MoCCA Fest is produced by the

Society of Illustrators The Society of Illustrators (SoI) 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. Since absorbing the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art (M ...

, following their acquisition of the Museum the previous year.

History

The MoCCA Festival was held at

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

's historic

Puck Building The Puck Building is a mixed-use building at 295–309 Lafayette Street in the SoHo, Manhattan, SoHo and Nolita neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. The building was designed by Albert Wagner (architect), Albert Wagner i ...

from 2002 to 2008. The MoCCA Festival 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 a successor to the Kirby Awards, which were ...

s. From 2009 to 2014, MoCCA Fest took place at the

69th Regiment Armory The 69th Regiment Armory (also known as the 165th Infantry Armory and the Lexington Avenue Armory) is a historic armory for the U.S. Army National Guard at 68 Lexington Avenue, between East 25th and 26th Streets, in the Rose Hill neighborho ...

. The

took over management of MoCCA Fest beginning with the 2013 show. In 2015, the event was split between two locations, with the exhibitors in Center548, and the programming at the High Line Hotel. Plans to convert Center548 to a residential property forced the Society to find new venues, and beginning in 2016 Metropolitan West hosted the exhibitors, with programming taking place at Ink48. The 2020 Festival was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. The 2021 Festival was held as an online only event with six days of virtual events. In 2022, the Society of Illustrators announced plans to hold the event in-person at a new venue, Metropolitan Pavilion in New York City's Chelsea neighborhood.

Dates and locations

* June 23, 2002 (

) * June 22, 2003 (Puck Building) — guests include

Jessica Abel Jessica Abel (born 1969) is an American comic book writer and artist, known as the creator of such works as ''Life Sucks'', ''Drawing Words & Writing Pictures'', ''Soundtrack'', ''La Perdida'', ''Mirror, Window'', ''Radio: An Illustrated Guide' ...

, Signe Baumane,

Amanda Conner Amanda Conner is an American comics artist and commercial art illustrator. She began her career in the late 1980s for Archie Comics and Marvel Comics, before moving on to contribute work for Claypool Comics' '' Soulsearchers and Company'' and Ha ...

Howard Cruse Howard Cruse (May 2, 1944 – November 26, 2019) was an American alternative cartoonist known for the exploration of gay themes in his comics. First coming to attention in the 1970s, during the underground comix movement with ''Barefootz'', he ...

Evan Dorkin Evan Dorkin (born April 20, 1965) is an American comics artist and cartoonist. His best known works are the comic books ''Milk and Cheese'' and ''Dork'', the latter of which features his comic '' Eltingville''. His comics often poke fun at fandom ...

Phoebe Gloeckner Phoebe Louise Adams Gloeckner (born December 22, 1960) is an American cartoonist, illustrator, painter, and novelist. Early life Gloeckner was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her mother was a librarian and her father, David Gloeckner, was ...

Klaus Janson Klaus Janson (born January 23, 1952) is an American comics artist, working regularly for Marvel Comics and DC Comics and sporadically for independent companies. While he is best known as an inker, Janson has frequently worked as a penciller and co ...

Denis Kitchen Denis Kitchen (born August 27, 1946) is an American underground cartoonist, publisher, author, agent, and the founder of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. Early life Kitchen grew up in Wisconsin, attending William Horlick High School, Raci ...

James Kochalka James Kochalka (born May 26, 1967, in Springfield, Vermont) is an American comic book artist, writer, animator, and rock and roll, rock musician. His comics are noted for their blending of the real and the surreal. Largely autobiographical, Ko ...

Peter Kuper Peter Kuper (; born September 22, 1958) is an American alternative comics artist and illustrator, best known for his autobiographical, political, and social observations. Besides his contributions to the political anthology '' World War 3 Illust ...

, Jason Little, Patrick McDonnell,

Mike Mignola Michael Mignola (; born September 16, 1960) is an American comic book writer best known for creating ''Hellboy'' for Dark Horse Comics, part of a Hellboy Universe, shared universe of titles including ''B.P.R.D.'', ''Abe Sapien'', ''Lobster Johns ...

Bill Plympton Bill Plympton (born April 30, 1946) is an American animator, graphic designer, cartoonist, and filmmaker best known for his 1987 Academy Award–nominated animated short '' Your Face'' and his series of shorts featuring a dog character starting ...

Ted Rall Frederick Theodore Rall III (born August 26, 1963) is an American columnist, syndicated editorial cartoonist, and author. His political cartoons often appear in a multi-panel comic-strip format and frequently blend comic-strip and editorial-cart ...

, Jeff Smith,

Art Spiegelman Itzhak Avraham ben Zeev Spiegelman ( ; born February 15, 1948), professionally known as Art Spiegelman, is an American cartoonist, editor, and comics advocate best known for his graphic novel ''Maus''. His work as co-editor on the comics magazin ...

, and

Craig Thompson Craig Matthew Thompson (born September 21, 1975) is an American graphic novelist best known for his books ''Good-bye, Chunky Rice'' (1999), ''Blankets (graphic novel), Blankets'' (2003), ''Carnet de Voyage'' (2004), ''Habibi (graphic novel), Hab ...

* June 26–27, 2004 (Puck Building) — event expands to two days * June 11–12, 2005 (Puck Building) * June 10–11, 2006 (Puck Building) * June 23–24, 2007 (Puck Building) * June 7–8, 2008 (Puck Building) * June 6–7, 2009 (

) * April 10–11, 2010 (69th Regiment Armory) * April 9–10, 2011 (69th Regiment Armory) * April 28–29, 2012 (69th Regiment Armory) — guest of honor: P. Craig Russell * April 6–7, 2013 (69th Regiment Armory) — first under the administration of the Society of Illustrators * April 5–6, 2014 (69th Regiment Armory) * April 11–12, 2015 (Center548 xhibitors High Line Hotel rogramming — guests of honor: Aline Kominsky-Crumb,

Scott McCloud Scott McCloud (born Scott McLeod; June 10, 1960) is an American cartoonist and comics theorist. His non-fiction books about comics, ''Understanding Comics'' (1993), '' Reinventing Comics'' (2000), and '' Making Comics'' (2006), are made in comic ...

Raina Telgemeier Raina Telgemeier (; born May 26, 1977) is an American cartoonist. Her works include the autobiographical webcomic ''Smile (comic book), Smile'', which was published as a full-color middle grade graphic novel in February 2010, and the follow-up S ...

, J. H. Williams IIISpurgeon, 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). * April 2–3, 2016 ( Metropolitan West xhibitors Ink48 rogramming — guests of honor:

Cece Bell Cecelia Carolina Bell (born December 26, 1970, in Richmond, Virginia) is an American author, cartoonist, and illustrator. Most well known for her graphic novel ''El Deafo'', Bell's work has appeared in ''The Atlantic'', ''Vegetarian Times'', ''N ...

, R.O. Blechman,

Sonny Liew Sonny Liew (born 26 September 1974) is a Malaysia-born comic artist/illustrator based in Singapore. He is best known for '' The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye'' (2015), the first graphic novel to win the Singapore Literature Prize for fiction. ...

Rebecca Sugar Rebecca Rea Sugar (born July 9, 1987) is an American animator, screenwriter, producer, director, and musician. She is best known for being the creator of the Cartoon Network series ''Steven Universe'', making her the first non-binary person to in ...

. * April 1–2, 2017 (Metropolitan West xhibitors Ink48 rogramming — guests of honor: Blutch, Cliff Chiang,

Becky Cloonan Becky Cloonan (born 23 June) is an American comic book creator, known for work published by Tokyopop and Vertigo. In 2012 she became the first female artist to draw the main ''Batman'' title for DC Comics.Beck, Laura (February 8, 2013)"Meet the Fi ...

, Drew Friedman, David Lloyd, Gene Luen Yang. * April 7–8, 2018 (Metropolitan West xhibitors Ink48 rogramming * April 6–7, 2019 (Metropolitan West xhibitors Ink48 rogramming * April 4–5, 2020 (Metropolitan West xhibitors Ink48 rogramming — CANCELLED DUE TO COVID-19 PANDEMIC * April 2–3, 2022 (Metropolitan Pavilion) * April 1–2, 2023 (Metropolitan Pavilion) * March 16-17, 2024 (Metropolitan Pavilion) * March 15-16, 2025 (Metropolitan Pavilion)

Awards

MoCCA Festival Award/Klein Award (2002 - 2012)

Presented to an artist whose outstanding work elevated the comic art form. In 2009, the MoCCA Festival Award was renamed the

Klein Award 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 ar ...

in honor of MoCCA founder Lawrence Klein. * 2002:

Jules Feiffer Jules Ralph Feiffer ( ; January 26, 1929 – January 17, 2025) was an American cartoonist and author, who at one time was considered the most widely read satirist in the country. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1986 for Pulitzer Prize for Editori ...

* 2003:

* 2004:

Roz Chast Roz Chast (born November 26, 1954) is an American cartoonist and a staff cartoonist for ''The New Yorker''. Since 1978, she has published more than 1000 cartoons in ''The New Yorker''. She also publishes cartoons in ''Scientific American'' and the ...

* 2005:

Neal Adams Neal Adams (June 15, 1941 – April 28, 2022) was an American comic book artist. He was the co-founder of the graphic design studio Continuity Associates, and was a Creator ownership, creators-rights advocate who helped secure a pension and re ...

* 2006:

Gahan Wilson Gahan Allen Wilson (February 18, 1930 – November 21, 2019) was an American author, cartoonist and illustrator known for his cartoons depicting horror-fantasy situations. Biography Wilson was born in Evanston, Illinois, and was inspired by th ...

* 2007:

Alison Bechdel Alison Bechdel ( ; born September 10, 1960) is an American cartoonist. Originally known for the long-running comic strip ''Dykes to Watch Out For'', she came to critical and commercial success in 2006 with her Graphic novel, graphic memoir ''Fun ...

* 2008:

* 2009: Jerry Robinson * 2010:

David Mazzucchelli David John Mazzucchelli (; born September 21, 1960) is an American comics artist and writer, known for his work on seminal superhero comic book storylines ''Born Again (comics), Daredevil: Born Again'' and ''Batman: Year One'', as well as for gra ...

* 2011:

Al Jaffee Allan Jaffee (born Abraham Jaffee; March 13, 1921 – April 10, 2023) was an American cartoonist. He was notable for his work in the satire, satirical magazine ''Mad (magazine), Mad'', including his trademark feature, the Mad Fold-in, ''Mad'' F ...

* 2012:

Gary Panter Gary Panter (born December 1, 1950) is an American cartoonist, illustrator, painter, designer and part-time musician. Panter's work is representative of the post- underground, new wave comics movement that began with the end of '' Arcade: The Com ...

MoCCA Arts Festival Awards of Excellence (2013 - present)

Under the administration of The Society of Illustrators, the Klein Award was replaced in 2013 with the MoCCA Arts Festival Awards of Excellence, intended to recognize the most outstanding work on view at the festival. Artists winning this award are acknowledged with an Award of Excellence and have their work exhibited at the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art at the Society of Illustrators. All materials chosen in the jury's initial survey will be acquired by Columbia University's Rare Book and Manuscript Library for a newly established MoCCA Arts Festival collection, to be expanded annually.

2013 recipients

* Gregory Benton (''B+F'') * Kim Ku (''Ghost Hotel'') * Jane Mai (''Sunday in the Park with Boys'') * Nicholas T. Offerman (Nick Offerman) for the comic ''Revenant'' * Kenan Rubenstein (''Last Train to Old Town'') * Andrea Tsurumi (''Andrew Jackson Throws a Punch'') * Honorable Mention: Simon Arizpe (''OHaBEAR'') The winning artists' work was exhibited in the second floor MoCCA gallery at the Society of Illustrators May 21-July 6, 2013. Judges for the 2013 MoCCA Arts Festival Awards of Excellence included

Karen Berger Karen Berger (; born February 26, 1958) is an American comic book editor. She is best known for her role in helping create DC Comics' Vertigo imprint in 1993 and serving as the line's Executive Editor until 2013. She currently oversees Berger ...

Gary Groth Gary Groth (born September 18, 1954) is an American comic book editor, publisher and critic. He is editor-in-chief of ''The Comics Journal'', a co-founder of Fantagraphics Books, and founder of the Harvey Awards. Early life Groth is the son ...

, Nora Krug,

, and

Paul Pope Paul Pope (born September 25, 1970) is an American alternative cartoonist. Pope's work combines the precision and romance of European comics artists with the energy and page design of the manga tradition. Pope's two protagonist types are the ...

2014 recipients

* Alexandra Beguez (''Narwhal'') * Luke Healy (''Of the Monstrous Pictures of Whales'') * Greg Kletsel (''Exercise the Demon'') * David Plunkert (''Heroical'') * Jess Ruliffson (''Invisible Wounds'') The winning artists' work was exhibited in the second floor MoCCA gallery at the Society of Illustrators April 29-May 17, 2014. Judges for the 2014 MoCCA Arts Festival Awards of Excellence included Gregory Benton (2013 recipient), Tracy Hurren,

Chip Kidd Charles Kidd (born 1964) is an American graphic designer known for Cover art, book covers. Early childhood Born in Shillington, Pennsylvania, Shillington in Berks County, Pennsylvania, Kidd grew up being fascinated and heavily inspired by Am ...

, Chris Pitzer, and

James Sturm James Sturm (born 1965) is an American cartoonist and co-founder of the Center for Cartoon Studies in White River Junction, Vermont. Sturm is also the founder of the National Association of Comics Art Educators (NACAE), an organization committe ...

2015 recipients

* Tyler Boss (''Swimmers'') * Keren Katz (''Humdrum No.1/ 2015'') * Greg Kletsel (''Conceptual Bar Mitzvah Video'') * Kris Mukai (''Commuter'') * Daniel Zender (''Nope'') The winning artists' work was exhibited in the second floor MoCCA gallery at the Society of Illustrators July 27-August 15, 2015. Judges for the 2015 MoCCA Arts Festival Awards of Excellence included Charles Burns, Annie Koyama, David Plunkert (2014 recipient), Andrea Tsurumi (2013 recipient) and Alexandra Zsigmond.

2016 recipients

Glynnis Fawkes Glynnis Fawkes is an American cartoonist, author, and archaeological illustrator. She is best known for her cartoons featured in the New Yorker, graphic memoirs, and comics about ancient civilizations and mythology. She lives in Burlington, Vermo ...

(''Alle Ego'') * Pat Dorian (''Lon Chaney Talks Part 2'') * Shreyas R. Krishnan (''Becoming Rosie'') * Kate Lacour (''Vivisectionary II'') * R. Sikoryak (''iTunes Terms and Conditions'') The winning artists' work was exhibited in the second floor MoCCA gallery at the Society of Illustrators May 3-June 4, 2016. Judges for the 2016 MoCCA Arts Festival Awards of Excellence included Calista Brill, Cliff Chiang, Charles Kochman, Mark Newgarden, and Lauren Weinstein.

References

External links

* * {{Comic festivals and alternative comics conventions Comics conventions in the United States Festivals in New York City Festivals established in 2002 2002 establishments in New York City Conventions in New York City