To all creator and artist friends of the MCBA:
FallCon is ramping up and we’re getting ready for another fantastic show on October 4th at the Education Building on the Fairgrounds. We’re picking up the threads from the untimely and tragic passing of our Chief Bottle Washer and One-Man Band, Nick Post, and doing the best we can to carry the torch of the MCBA now and into the future.
Just in case you didn’t see our latest posting on Facebook and our website, a lot of artists and creators have been asking what they can do to honor Nick’s life and continue his spirit. Part of what made Nick so great was his selflessness in giving. Giving people the chance, the encouragement, and the opportunity to succeed.
We normally don’t do auctions at FallCon but…for this year only, we will be holding the Nick Post Memorial Silent Auction.
Just as with our SpringCon Charity Art Auction, artists and creators can donate sketches, pages, etc. We will take bids on these items throughout the FallCon show. At the end of the show, the winning bidders can pay for their items by check, cash, or credit card. 100% of the money will be donated to the Minneapolis College of Arts & Design to be used as a scholarship for their Comic Art program. Your generosity will put as many talented and promising artists, that otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford it, through MCAD’s Comic Art program as the money will allow.
Artists/creators can bring their donations with them to FallCon, drop them off at The Source, or you can send them to me directly. Email us through Facebook or at MCBAguest@gmail.com and we’ll give you an address to send your donations.
Some artists have even asked who they should draw, in honor of Nick. That’s a tough one to answer. Nick’s favorite character was Superman. But he also loved characters like Black Bolt, The Creeper, the 3 witches from The Witching Hour, and The Badger (yes, Nick thought The Badger “was awesome!”). But, in the end, you are the artist and who or what you draw to donate is entirely up to you. Just as with the regular charity auction, we’ll gladly take any family friendly artwork and, as always, THANK YOU for your kind and generous donation.
Thanks everyone! Get ready for a GREAT SHOW!
Mike FrigonMidwest Comic Book Association
Category Archives: Good Causes
Big Sale at Altered Esthetics this Saturday (1/25/14) as Altered Esthetics Gets Rid of its Walls.
Our friends and collaborators at Altered Esthetics gallery (1224 Quincy St. NE Minneapolis) are having a big sale this Saturday from 12 to 5 as they prepare to move out of their current space to pursue AE Without Walls. Please check out the kickstarter for that for more information, and to donate.
The sale this weekend will include all of the collaborative comics projects we’ve done with them that they still have in stock, including Lutefisk Sushi volumes D and E, Just Add Ink, Rock Ink Roll and BIG FUNNY… they will all be available at DEEPLY discounted prices. Hopefully we can find good homes for most of them. Much original art and other good stuff will also be for sale, including their furniture.
More on AE Without Walls:
Altered Esthetics is excited to commemorate our 10th year with the launch of “Ae Without Walls†– a pop-up exhibition tour of the Twin Cities.
We have exciting news to share with you!
Celebrating a decade in the Arts District, Altered Esthetics will bring exhibitions directly to the audience in a series of pop-up installations and exhibitions around the Twin Cities entitled “Ae Without Walls.”
No stranger to pop-ups, Altered Esthetics has hosted exhibitions in alternative venues. From the Dinkytowner, to installations at the Hennepin Central Library, to its solo exhibitions program, Altered Esthetics has curated installations in a variety of spaces – but never before on such a grand scale. The hope of Ae Without Walls – to increase accessibility, opportunities for exposure to the arts, and to celebrate 10 years of being a voice for artists.
Altered Esthetics will still base out of the Q’arma building, maintaining a presence at its home in the Arts District, but will no longer have a permanent space housed there. Exhibition locations will be announced monthly.
Altered Esthetics is a community gallery run by artists, for artists. Want to get involved in Ae Without Walls? Email contact(at)alteredesthetics.org to find out more about showing opportunities, internships, volunteering and more.
Dr. Dan McNamara’s Nematode Pamphlet Project
Conspirator Dr. Dan McNamara (founder of the currently inactive Mini-Comics Co-op) has successfully funded his kickstarter to tell the world about nematodes using cutting-edge pamphlet technology. That, however, does not mean you will not want to support his noble efforts. You still have a week to support his cause. Go here to learn more, and illuminate yourself by viewing the video below.
Sushi Box Collating this Thursday
We’ll be collating the Lutefisk Sushi Volume E boxes this Thursday at 8:00 at AE. We could use some extra hands getting the boxes filled… just show up if you want to help out and get a sneak preview of the amazing contents of the box.
Rain Taxi is launching a new Lit Art Magazine and wants YOU!
Okay so recently Rain Taxi decided to launch a literary journal and is including COMICS! The deal is that on Aug 25th at the Cedar the event will launch with art making and local bands, and all the content for the issue will be made between noon and midnight, which is old hat for you comic jammers. They asked me to be the comics editor and I thought of you guys immediately. Who better to do this than 24 hour comics day veterans?
The deal is though, that Rain Taxi is crowd funding the project in the style of Kickstarter. And the funding seems to be creeping so it is going to need all the help it can get to become a reality.
The main reason that I am campaigning so much for this project among many other equally worthy projects is that I think it is a VERY IMPORTANT step in Minneapolis art/print scene that Rain Taxi from the get go decided to give COMICS an equal billing along with the more familiar short stories, poetry and non fiction. I think if this project makes it it will be another step towards comics being seen as an integral part of such anthologies and not an afterthought or oddity.
So that all said, if this sounds like something you’d want to participate in or help support here is where you do it. (Also read more about the details)
Firecracker Art magazine Seeder Page
Also if your work is selected this is gonna be a really nice book on the resume 😉
WANTED: Caricaturist for FLOW Northside Arts Crawl
Emerge Community Development is seeking an artist to do caricatures at the FLOW Northside Arts Crawl Saturday, July 28th, from 2-6pm. FLOW is a free, self-guided art tour in North Minneapolis, featuring performers and visual artists working in a variety of mediums. If you are interested in drawing caricatures at this event, or if you have any questions, please contact Miles Johnson at Johnsonm4@emerge-mn.org
The Bicycle Cartoon Show, June 8, 7pm Black Dog Cafe, Saint Paul
Come Draw and Celebrate Altered Esthetics 8th Anniversary this Saturday (April 21st)!
Altered Esthetics gallery is celebrating their 8th Anniversary this Saturday, and we will be drawing pictures there for donations to help support the gallery. Anyone in the Conspiracy is welcome to show up and help out… the more the merrier.
Above: Some conspirators drawing “cankeratures” for a packed house at the previous Iron and Candy fundraider for AE.
Altered Esthetics has been our partner for a number of gallery show/anthology projects (2 Lutefisk Sushi boxes, the Alley Cat benefit, Big Funny and last year’s Just Add Ink comic cookbook)… and a better partner I honestly can not imagine. We are doing another Lutefisk Sushi box set project with them this November. It simply would not be feasible to pull these kind of projects off without Altered Esthetics for a collaborator. They are a unique, non-profit, community-centered gallery… they are extremely well-organized, and we are extremely fortunate to have them supporting our mad ventures. Show up Saturday and thank them!
Below: Photos of some of the “cankeratures” drawn at the Iron and Candy fundraiser at AE hung on the wall. (click them to see them larger)
Underground Comix Legend S. Clay Wilson Needs Help
Underground Cartooning Great and Zap Comics contributor S. Clay Wilson (renowned for such creations as The Checkered Demon and Captain Pissgums and His Pervert Pirates) suffered a traumatic brain injury a couple years ago (the details of which you can read here). He is severely brain damaged and can no longer draw. Being an underground cartoonist, he obviously has no retirement plan. He recently underwent surgery to help with a build up of spinal fluid in his brain. Few cartoonists have blown so many minds or melted so many eyeballs. It is a testament to the power of his work that things he created 40 years ago remain some of the most wildly offensive art ever created to this day… and some of the funniest and most outrageous comics ever created. He could really use help… go here to donate to his trust.
Donation Request to Benefit ALS Sufferer
Dennis Steele asked me to post the following:
I’m helping a friend of mine with a benefit he’s organizing for an employee at his company who’s battling ALS. The benefit is on Dec. 10th in Hopkins, and features martial arts of various forms and disciplines. There will also be a silent auction. Which brings me to the reason I’m emailing you, I was wondering if you knew of anyone that would be willing to donate some art work for the silent auction.
You can contact Dennis at dsteele(at)mntalent.com
