Category Archives: St. Paul

Altered Esthetics’ Fifth Anniversary!!!

7000 BC, event, Events, gallery show, Good Causes, Minneapolis, mn, Opportunities, St. Paul

The Cartoonist Conspiracy is immensely fortunate to have found Altered Esthetics gallery to collaborate with. A non-profit, community and artist centered gallery, we have collaborated with them on the Eric Lappegard Benefit and Lutefisk Sushi Volume C, and this Summer we will be working with them to put together Big Funny (submissions due May First!).

Mark your calendars, because next month is Altered Esthetics fifth birthday, and to celebrate they are having a party/art show/fundraiser April 17th!

They are requesting wood-themed art donations for their fifth ‘wood’ anniversary. Find out the details of how you can donate art to them here.

One other very cool way you can contribute is by donating art to be in the Art Vending Machine
… mini-comics seem made for this.

Please consider donating art, and please let them know the Conspiracy sent you!

Celebrate Ae!

alteredesthetics.org/fiveyears

April 2009 marks our fifth birthday! We’re having a giant celebration to commemorate the occasion, in conjunction with our Spring Fundraiser.

Please join us on April 17, 2009 for a celebration and fundraiser featuring:

– A wood-themed art exhibition and silent auction
– A raffle with awesome prizes and goods from local businesses
– Live music
– Refreshments
– Wood themed games
– Awesome company
– And more!

Schedule of Awesomeness
5:00pm: Raffle, Silent Auction, Games, DJ
9:00pm: Silent Auction and Raffle ends, winners announced
9:30pm: Live music begins, festivities continue, the people rejoice.

Microcon Volunteers Needed! Sunday April 26th

event, Events, Microcon, Minneapolis, mn, Opportunities, St. Paul

FALLCON’s sassy little sister MICROCON is coming up very soon! Sunday April 26th from 10AM to 4PM… a whole lot of fun packed into six little hours. The Midwest Comic Book Association always does a wonderful job making cartoonists feel welcome… you won’t want to miss it.

We need volunteers to meet and greet, draw, and spread the good word. Please let me know if you’re interested in the comments or via email at webmaster (at) cartoonistconspiracy.com… thanks!

Here is a chicklet to put on your website to help promote it:

St. Paul Cartoonist Conspiracy Jam! This Thursday, March 19th, 2009!

Jam Comics, St. Paul

Join the St. Paul Cartoonist Conspiracy Cell and create a jam comic! It’s easy and fun! Just bring some drawing utensils, an idea for the jam, and a few bucks to get a tasty beverage — the baristas really do appreciate that.

The jam will start promptly at 6:30 and run until…whenever.

The meetings are open to anyone who wants to draw with us, and the results are posted here sooner rather than later.

To join us come to:
Cosmic’s Coffee Shoppe
189 Snelling Ave N.
St. Paul, MN 55104
(Northwest corner of Snelling and Selby)

More not than often we head on over to grab a brew at:
O’Gara’s Bar and Grill
164 Snelling Ave N
St. Paul, MN 55104
(Southeast corner of Snelling and Selby)

Bus info here.

Any questions? Ideas for the jam? Please discuss on our message board.

We hope to see you!

Cartooning Events Over the Next Week in Minneapolis

event, Events, Minneapolis, mn, St. Paul

This is turning out to be quite the week for cartooning events in Minneapolis… to recap:

This Thursday, March 5th:
Conspiracy Jam at Diamond’s Coffee in Minneapolis

This Friday, March 6th:
Eric Reynolds Lecture at MCAD
MOMEntum Opening at MCAD

(Not comic related, but worth checking out: Creative Blood opening at Altered Esthetics)

This Saturday, March 7th:
Open Studio at The Center for Book Arts
Deadline for submissions to Superfantastica Comix #4

Next Tuesday, March 10th:
Zander Cannon reading at the Loft

JAM IN MINNEAPOLIS THIS THURSDAY! (March 5th)

event, Events, jam, Minneapolis, mn, St. Paul

The Minneapolis Cartoonist Conspiracy meets at 6:30 until 10:00 the first Thursday of every month at Diamond’s Coffee Shoppe in Northeast.

Generally, we draw collaborative “jam” comics, socialize and drink caffeinated beverages. Afterwords, we often have uncaffeinated beverages somewhere else.

The meetings are open to anyone who wants to draw with us, and the results are posted here sooner or later (and sometimes even printed).

Diamond’s Coffee Shoppe
1618 Central Avenue Northeast
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Bus info here.

Please spend some money at Diamond’s while you’re there, even if it is just a cuppa coffee… they are excellent hosts, and we wanna stay welcome there.

Big Time Attic

Big Time Attic hosts our monthly jam meetings at Diamond’s… they will be supplying us with a big old plate of pastries or something. Thanks fellas!

Zander Cannon Reads from Top 10 at The Loft in Minneapolis March 10th!

event, Events, Minneapolis, mn, St. Paul

Conspirator Zander Cannon will be giving a free reading from/”director’s commentary” on his recent collaboration with Gene Ha on Top 10: Season Two next Tuesday March 10th at 7PM at The Loft Literary Center. This is partially to promote his upcoming class at The Loft, Writing for Comic Books and Graphic Novels, which I would tell you to go register for, but it already sold out!

MOMEntum at MCAD March 6th!

event, Events, gallery show, Minneapolis, mn, St. Paul

Quite a week coming up at MCAD… they are also having a show featuring the work of the artists in Fantagraphics’ MOME anthology (including locals Tom Kaczynski and Zak Sally). MOME is the best ongoing comics anthology around these days in my view, and the talent in it includes many of the best cartoonists working today. Needless to say, you won’t want to miss this.

MORE INFO HERE.

When: March 6 – April 19, 2009
Where: MCAD Gallery: Concourse Gallery
Reception: Friday, March 6, 6-8 p.m.
Gallery Talk with Tom Kaczynski and Zak Sally: Thursday, April 9, 6:30 p.m.
Note that MOME editor and cartoonist Eric Reynolds will be speaking Friday March 6th at 1PM in MCAD auditorium 150.

mome noun (1553) 1. archaic: fool; blockhead. 2. a quarterly anthology showcasing the best new talent of this decade’s rising cartoon generation.

MOMENTUM: The New Comics presents a retrospective of comic artworks published in the Harvey and Eisner award-nominated quarterly Mome (Fantagraphics Books), one of the industry’s leading contemporary anthologies. Anchored by an ever-evolving core roster of contributors, the lauded series showcases comic art’s best emerging talent alongside some of North America and Europe’s most respected creators. MOMENTUM artists include rising stars such as Sophie Crumb, Tim Hensley, R. Kikuo Johnson, Tom Kaczynski, Zak Sally, and Dash Shaw. Check out a gallery of sample work from MOMENTUM.

The Made at MCAD/MOMENTUM opening reception on March 6 will feature live music by hip-hop duo Elliot Looney and DJ Danny Sigelman, snacks and refreshments, and much more. No tickets required–fans of all ages are welcome to join in the fun, connect with other comic heads, and check out exciting new work.

Also on March 6 is an afternoon lecture with Mome editor Eric Reynolds. Find out more about this related event.

Just added! Join us for a gallery talk with comic artists Tom Kaczynski and Zak Sally on Thursday, April 9, starting at 6:30 p.m. in the second-floor Concourse Gallery.

To get caught up with Mome, read interviews with Mome artists, view galleries of their work and more, head to the anthology’s page at Fantagraphics Books.

The exhibition and gallery reception are open to the general public. Admission is complimentary. Click for gallery hours and directions to campus. E-mail gallery@mcad.edu or call (612) 874-3803 for more information.

Free Screening! Will Eisner: Portrait of a Sequential Artist

Events, Minneapolis, St. Paul

I received information this afternoon from Minneapolis College of Art and Design’s Assistant Professor Barbara Schulz about Will Eisner Week events and the free screening of Montilla Pictures’ Will Eisner: Portrait of a Sequential Artist.

Will Eisner Week public events are beind held all around the United States including venues such as The Minneapolis College of Art and Design, The Savannah College of Art and Design, and by the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund in New York City.

Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD) Comic Heads Scheduled of Events: Lecture Series and Documentary Screening

Will Eisner his influence and spirit. by Guest Speaker N.C. Christopher Couch, author of the Will Eisner Companion.

Special Screening: Will Eisner: Portrait of a Sequential Artist. Directed by Andrew D. Cooke

March 1st. MCAD Main Auditorium 150. 1 p.m.

MCAD: Minneapolis College of Art and Design. 2501 Stevens Ave., Minneapolis MN

St. Paul Cartoonist Conspiracy’s February 2009 Jam!

Jam Comics, St. Paul

Wow! What a great turnout! This is the second time in a row that the St. Paul jam had to occupy multiple booths at Cosmic’s! Kudos to all those that showed up!

Weird instances and lifelong conversation pieces are commonplace at St. Paul jams. For example, as you may or may not know we Cosmic Coffee’s regular group of patrons are a group of LARPers (live action role players – in this case they think they are vampires). Generally they can be annoying, lately they’ve been quiet, but this last time around? They were conducting interviews “in character.” One guy was dressed as a mime, another brought in a bass guitar, and yet another said he was a poet. I had no clue what was going on, but had someone come in to rob the place, I would not have known if it was real or not.

But don’t let the strangeness of the St. Paul jams deter you from coming to the next! It just adds character. If you’d like to participate in the next St. Paul jam, just show up on Thursday, March 19th, 2009 to Cosmic’s Coffee! Bring yourself and bring your friends, by force if you have to! Cartoonists have forced their friends to show up before! What’s stopping you?

Want to see what we do while at the jams? Click on the image towards the bottom of this post to view our latest creation!

With the Minneapolis cell coming back down from their craziness cloud, we too decided to tone down our jam a bit. Yet another topic chosen by Ryan Dow, “How to Tell if Your Neighbor Went Bankrupt!”

Check it out!

St. Paul Cartoonist Conspiracy Jam! This Thursday, February 19th, 2009!

jam, St. Paul

Image created using a candy heart generator.

Join the St. Paul Cartoonist Conspiracy Cell and create a jam comic! It’s easy and fun! Just bring some drawing utensils, an idea for the jam, and a few bucks to get a tasty beverage — the baristas really do appreciate that.

The jam will start promptly at 6:30 and run until…whenever.

The meetings are open to anyone who wants to draw with us, and the results are posted here sooner rather than later.

To join us come to:
Cosmic’s Coffee Shoppe
189 Snelling Ave N.
St. Paul, MN 55104
(Northwest corner of Snelling and Selby)

More not than often we head on over to grab a brew at:
O’Gara’s Bar and Grill
164 Snelling Ave N
St. Paul, MN 55104
(Southeast corner of Snelling and Selby)

Bus info here.

Any questions? Ideas for the jam? Please discuss on our message board.

We hope to see you!