Back in April, I volunteered at MoCCA Arts Fest – an annual festival held by the Society of Illustrators and the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art in New York City. It was an interesting experience in terms of attending a graphic arts festival and volunteering. The festival was small, and showcased many homegrown, DIY graphic artists and publishers. If you were looking for capes, storm troopers, or one of the big two, this was not the festival for you. There was a greater focuses on the artistic nature of graphic art and a little on storytelling. The biggest publishers in attendance were the likes of First Second Books and the Pantheon imprint. The management of the volunteers was a little disorganized, but overall the festival for attendees was intimate and affordable ($12 at the door/$15 for the weekend). Professionally, I’m not sure if I would add this to my list of conferences and festivals to attend for collection development purposes like the New York City Comic Con, but it was an eye-opening experience for identifying other components, like the smaller publishers and imprints, to keep in mind.
Cassidy B. Charles 