Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art
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The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art (MoCCA) is currently located in New York City at 594 Broadway, Suite 401, between Houston and Prince streets. A non-profit educational arts organization, MoCCA was founded in October of 2001 and sponsors events ranging from book openings to educational programs in New York schools. The Museum also hosts classes, workshops and lectures focusing on topics relevant to the comic book and cartoon mediums. Its stated goal is to provide education to the public about the production, history and relevance of comic and cartoon art. MoCCA is somewhat unusual among museums because every member of its staff is a volunteer, from the president to the interns.
MoCCA's biggest event is the annual MoCCA Art Festival or Art Fest which is billed as an independent comics showcase and typically includes artist booths, slide shows, educational panels and other special events. Art Fest serves three purposes, first as the primary fundraiser for MoCCA, second as a showcase for independent comic and cartoon artists and finally as an opportunity to honor some of the more respected individuals working in the field with the MoCCA Art Festival Award. Past recipients of the award have included Jules Feiffer, Art Spiegelman, Roz Chast, Neil Adams, and Gahan Wilson.
In 2003, MoCCA officially opened its art gallery and has been hosting exhibits at the location ever since. The first exhibit was entitled Gag Art! and focused on single panel comedic cartoons such as those seen in The New Yorker. Other past exhibits have included, Living Masters of Comic and Cartoon Art, Toon Town which dealt with the relationship between New York City and cartoonists, Will Eisner: A Retrospective showcasing the work of Will Eisner and Cartoons Against the Axis: World War II Bonds Cartoons from the Terry D'Alessio Collection. The current exhibit is She Draws Comics: 100 Years of America's Women Cartoonists. An upcoming exhibit exploring the world of Saturday morning cartoons is scheduled for November of 2006.
