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 artists, publishers, editors and enthusiasts. It was named "Best Small-Press Comics Nexus Anywhere" by The Village Voice.
Since 2013, the MoCCA Fest is produced by the Society of Illustrators, following their acquisition of the Museum the previous year.
History
The MoCCA Festival was held at New York's historic Puck Building from 2002 to 2008. The MoCCA Festival hosted the comics industry's 2004 and 2005 Harvey Awards.
From 2009 to 2014, MoCCA Fest took place at the 69th Regiment Armory. The Society of Illustrators 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 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 (Puck Building) June 22, 2003 (Puck Building) — guests include Jessica Abel, Signe Baumane, Amanda Conner, Howard Cruse, Evan Dorkin, Phoebe Gloeckner, Klaus Janson, Denis Kitchen, James Kochalka, Peter Kuper, Jason Little, Patrick McDonnell, Mike Mignola, Bill Plympton, Ted Rall, Jeff Smith, Art Spiegelman, and Craig Thompson 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 (69th Regiment Armory) 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 [exhibitors], High Line Hotel [programming]) — guests of honor: Aline Kominsky-Crumb, Scott McCloud, Raina Telgemeier, J. H. Williams III April 2–3, 2016 (Metropolitan West [exhibitors], Ink48 [programming]) — guests of honor: Cece Bell, R.O. Blechman, Phoebe Gloeckner, Sonny Liew, Rebecca Sugar. April 1–2, 2017 (Metropolitan West [exhibitors], Ink48 [programming]) — guests of honor: Blutch, Cliff Chiang, Becky Cloonan, Drew Friedman, David Lloyd, Gene Luen Yang. April 7–8, 2018 (Metropolitan West [exhibitors], Ink48 [programming]) April 6–7, 2019 (Metropolitan West [exhibitors], Ink48 [programming]) April 4–5, 2020 (Metropolitan West [exhibitors], Ink48 [programming]) — CANCELLED DUE TO COVID-19 PANDEMIC April 2–3, 2022 (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 in honor of MoCCA founder Lawrence Klein.
2002: Jules Feiffer
2003: Art Spiegelman
2004: Roz Chast
2005: Neal Adams
2006: Gahan Wilson
2007: Alison Bechdel
2008: Bill Plympton
2009: Jerry Robinson
2010: David Mazzucchelli
2011: Al Jaffee
2012: Gary Panter
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)