MoCCA Fest 2014 Awards of Excellence and Jury

April 5th & 6th, 2014

Admission to the 2014 MoCCA Arts Festival is $5 per day. Tickets are available to purchase at the door. Cash and credit cards accepted.

MoCCA Fest is held in Manhattan at:
The 69th Regiment Armory
68 Lexington Avenue
between E. 25th & E. 26th Street
New York, NY 10010

NEW YORK, NY (February, 2014)–The Society of Illustrators is proud to announce that Gregory Benton, Tracy Hurren, Chip Kidd, Chris Pitzer and James Sturm will form the jury for the MoCCA Arts Festival Awards of Excellence. These awards will recognize the most outstanding work on view at the festival. Artists winning this award will be acknowledged with an Award of Excellence and will have their work exhibited at the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art at the Society of Illustrators from April 29th till May 17th, 2014.

Society of Illustrators Executive Director Anelle Miller says, “The exhibitors at the MoCCA Arts Festival are among the most daring and inventive voices in comics and illustration working today, and we are pleased to celebrate their important work and advance the Society’s long heritage of recognizing the finest artists in all fields of illustration with the MoCCA Arts Festival Awards of Excellence.”

The Jury will convene to discuss the entries, ultimately deciding on six “Awards of Excellence” to be named the evening of April 6th. 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. More information about the MoCCA Arts Festival and the Awards of Excellence can be found on our website.

About the Judges

Gregory Benton is a comic artist and illustrator. His work first appeared in the political anthology War War 3, moving on to writing and drawing stories for Nickelodeon, Vertigo, DC Comics, Disney Adventures, Watson-Guptil, Entertainment Weekly. His illustrations have appeared in The New York Times, The Village Voice and Fortune, among others. In April of 2013, his book B+F was awarded one of the MoCCA Arts Festival’s inaugural Award of Excellence. An expanded version of B+F was published in the autumn of 2013 through Adhouse Books (USA) and Editions çà et là (France).

Tracy Hurren is the Managing Editor at Drawn & Quarterly, an internationally renowned publishing company based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, that specializes in comic books, graphic novels, and comic strip collections. D&Q has published some of the leading cartoonists from around the world including Lynda Barry, Kate Beaton, Daniel Clowes, Chester Brown, Seth, Art Spiegelman, and more. Tracy began her career in comics after earning a master’s degree in publishing from Simon Fraser University. At D+Q, she has spearheaded the Rookie Yearbooks, the colour Moomin series, and numerous other projects with celebrated cartoonists including Anders Nilsen, Seth, and Shigeru Mizuki.

Chip Kidd is a Designer/Writer. His book cover designs for Alfred A. Knopf, where he has worked non-stop since 1986, have won numerous awards and have revolutionized American book packaging. He is the recipient of the National Design Award for Communications, as well as the Use of Photography in Design award from the International Center of Photography. He is the author of multiple books including The Cheese Monkeys and The Learners, as well as the graphic novel Batman: Death By Design (illustrated by Dave Taylor, published by DC Comics). Kidd is a distinguished and prolific lecturer and has spoken at such notable institutions as Princeton, Yale, Havard, and RISD.

Chris Pitzer is the Publisher and Founder of AdHouse books, a unique publishing company founded in 2002. AdHouse has been awarded for its stellar design quality and impressive works, winning Ignatz, Harvey, and Eisner Awards as well as recognition from AIGA, Communication Arts, and Domtar Paper. Their library includes titles by notable artists Mike Dawson, Sterling Hundley, Debbie Huey, Katie Skelly, Jim Rugg, and more. Pitzer has also won numerous nominations and awards for his work in the design industry.

James Sturm is the co-founder and Director of The Center for Cartoon Studies, a two-year cartooning school located in White River Junction, Vermont. As a cartoonist, James has created numerous comics including The Golem’s Mighty Swing, Market Day, and the Xeric award-winning comic The Revival. James is also the co-creater of the popular Adventures in Cartooning book series and Satchel Paige, Striking Out Jim Crow. Sturm’s work has appeared in The New York Times, The Onion, The Chronicle of Education, and on the cover of The New Yorker. Sturm is also a regular contributor to Slate. In 1991, Sturm co-founded the alternative weekly The Stranger.