NCS Foundation Silent Auction!!!

I owe many, many thanks to all the folks who have stepped up and supported the Kenosha Festival of Cartooning financially, both through the Kickstarter Drive in May and here on the site through Paypal.

But I owe my biggest thank you of all to Rick Stromoski and the National Cartoonist Society Foundation. They came through for us when it looked as though we were not going to make our goal and were in danger of canceling the Festival entirely.

I have been familiar with the work of the NCS Foundation since my husband joined the NCS in 2008. They are the charitable wing of the National Cartoonist Society and are behind a host of good works both for and by cartoonists. They sponsor community outreach programs such as those we will be offering at the festival, fund scholarships for students wishing to enter the field of cartooning, and they organize cartoonists to raise money for good causes.

I cannot tell you how thrilled I am that they felt the Kenosha Festival of Cartooning was a good fit for their mission! And, because of their involvement, we have been able to add an event to the Festival that is near and dear to my heart, a silent auction to raise money for the Children's Hospital of Wisconsin's Kenosha Clinic and also Margaret Ann's Place, a center that counsels children in the wake of a death in the family.

While I am very proud of the festival we put on last year, it is so much more meaningful to have an opportunity to give something lasting to the community through this auction!

The auction will be the capstone to the festival and will be held at the Rhode Center For The Arts on Saturday, September 29th from 6:00-8:00 pm. There will be a catered reception at which our guest artists and other NCS members will be signing autographs and doodling for attendees.

To date we have donated original comic art  from the following:

The Walker Family:     Beetle Bailey
The Walker Family:     Hi and Lois
Jeff Keane:                   Family Circus
Dean Young:               Blondie
Brad Anderson:           Marmaduke
Tom Batuik:                 Funky Winkerbean
Tom Batuik:                 Crankshaft
Greg Evans:                 LuAnn
Patrick McDonnel:       Mutts
Hilary Price:                 Rhymes With Orange
Dave Coverly:              Speed Bump
Stephan Pastis:             Pearls Before Swine
Michael Jantze:            The Norm
Rick Stromoski:           Soup to Nutz
Norm Feuti:                  Retail
Paul Gilligan:               Pooch Cafe
Sandra Bell Lundy       Between Friends
Todd Clark                   Lola
Sandra Boynton           Boynton Comics
Greg Cravens:              The Buckets
Tom Richmond:           MAD Magazine
Richard Pietrzyk:          Brenda Starr
John Hambrock:          The Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee

And I am sure we will have many more as we near the event - keep checking this site for details as they come in.

Again, a huge thank you to Rick and the entire NCSF board, who voted unanimously to support the festival and add the auction!!!

Preliminary Schedule for Kenosha Festival of Cartooning 2012 UPDATED

The 2012 Kenosha Festival of Cartooning will be held from Thursday, September 27th through Saturday, September 29th.

The following is a preliminary schedule and may change. Check back regularly for updates. Note that not all events are open to the public.

UPDATE: Please note that, while the presentations remain on the same days, some of the start times have changed slightly. Please plan to arrive early at each presentation in case we are running ahead of schedule.

Thursday 9/27

8:00 am Interview with Greg Berg of WGTD for the Morning Show.

All artists.

9:50-11:30 am Classroom lecture at Carthage College. Not open to the public.

2:00-4:00 pm Lectures at Carthage College and the University of Wisconsin Parkside. Not open to the public

6:30 pm John Hambrock  Kenosha Public Museum (Free & Open to Public)

John will officially open the festival and introduce the evening's speakers.

6:45 pm Dave Coverly Kenosha Public Museum  (Free & Open to Public)

Behind the scenes of "Speed Bump".

7:45 pm Michael Jantze  Kenosha Public Museum (Free & Open to Public)

Behind the scenes of "The Norm" and Jantze Animation Studios.

Friday 9/28

8:45-10:20 am Class lecture at Carthage College. Not open to the public.

9:00-11:00 am Outreach to Children's Hospital. Not open to the public

1:30-2:45 pm Assembly for KUSD high school art students. Not open to the public.

7:00 pm Greg Cravens Kenosha Public Museum  (Free & Open to Public)

Behind the scenes of "The Buckets".

8:00 pm Hilary Price Kenosha Public Museum  (Free & Open to Public)

Behind the scenes of "Rhymes With Orange".

Saturday, 9/29

10:00 am -12:00 pm Cartooning Class for ages 10-16. Taught by guest artists. Open to the public but registration is required and a fee payable to the Kenosha Public Museum will be charged.

10:00 am - 12:00 pm Rotating artist demonstrations in the Museum's "Artist Studio" Kenosha Public Museum (Free & Open to Public)

1:30 pm Panel discussion with Stephan Pastis, John Hambrock, Hilary Price, Dave Coverly, Greg Cravens, Phil Hands, Norm Feuti, and Michael Jantze - moderated by Tom Racine. Kenosha Public Museum  (Free & Open to Public but seating is limited and advance registration will be required.)

2:45 pm Norm Feuti Kenosha Public Museum  Behind the scenes of "Retail" and "Gil". (Free & Open to Public but seating is limited and advance registration will be required.)

4:00 pm Stephan Pastis Kenosha Public Museum  Behind the scenes of "Pearls Before Swine". (Free & Open to Public but seating is limited and advance registration will be required.)

6:00-8:00 pm Silent Auction to benefit Children's Hospital of Wisconsin's Kenosha Clinic. Rhode Center For The Arts. (Free & Open to Public) The auction will feature original art by each of the guest artists as well as the art of many other well known comic artists. There will be a catered reception at this event and the artists will be there to draw and sign for festival guests.

This concludes the festival.

Our Guest Speakers For 2012

It is with great excitement that I am able to announce the list of confirmed guest speakers (in alphabetical order):


Dave Coverly (Speed Bump)
Greg Cravens (The Buckets)
Norm Feuti (Retail and Gil)
Michael Jantze (The Norm and Jantze Studios)
Stephan Pastis (Pearls Before Swine)
Hilary Price (Rhymes With Orange)


Also joining us will be our favorite podcaster for all things comic, Tom Racine. Tom will be moderating panel discussions and also, hopefully, doing some live podcasting for us.


We have a lot of exciting things planned for next year's festival so mark your calendars for Thursday, September 27 through Saturday, September 29.




If you are interested in supporting the festival with a tax deductible donation, please click on the donate button and make a secure donation. All donors will have their names listed in the festival program (regardless of dollar amount) and no donation is too small (or too large). 

Silent Auction

It is my great pleasure to announce that, in addition to our terrific schedule of presentations, we will be holding a silent auction of original comic art. The proceeds of this auction will go to local children's charities. More information will be posted as the auction details are finalized.


May was dedicated to our fundraising and June will be devoted to finalizing all the events, including the auction and the gallery show. Be sure to check back often for the latest information on The Kenosha Festival of Cartooning 2012.