The Society of Illustrators, the organizer of MoCCA Arts Festival, the annual indie comics show, announced plans to move the show to a new venue in 2015 in addition to releasing names of the initial guest artists for 2015. The show will move to a location in Manhattan’s Chelsea arts district and guests will include Aline Kominsky-Crumb, Scott McCloud, Raina Telgemeier, and J.H. Williams, with more to be named later.
Ever since SoI took over the MoCCA Arts Festival in late 2012, there has been much speculation about whether the show would continue at the historic Lexington Avenue Armory, where MoCCA has been held since 2009. Orgnanizers have long complained about services and other flaws at the venue.
MoCCA is slated to be held April 11-12 2015 at Center 548 a location very close to the High Line on West 22nd street in the Chelsea art gallery district. The new venue will set up the show on three floors in the building including a floor for programming, exhibitons, a rooftop café and exhibition floor. Once again, admission will be $5 per day and the show will kick off with a week of events prior that are tied to cartooning and held a venues all around the city.
The move to Center 548 will also mean a small reduction in the number of exhibitor tables the show can offer. Applications for table space will be available November 3 and SoI says that price of renting a table will not be increased.
Anelle Miller, executive director of the Society of Illustrators, says, “We are so thrilled to usher in a new era for the MoCCA Fest in 2015! Our guests of honor have each left indelible impressions on the comics medium, and how that medium is seen by audiences all over the world. We are proud to host them, as we grow into a new space and an expanded slate of programming that will form a dynamic festival that New York will be proud of. And there’s so much more to come!”
