For four days in March, international artists and scholars will gather at Rice University to engage in an interdisciplinary dialog on comics, a medium whose relevance to politics, communication and literacy is growing daily. Our act of academic and cultural border-defiance, will also be offered as a pocket-travel-guide published by the award-winning comics publisher, Kuš! Komikss, available for FREE at the conference’s start, along with free posters, free tote bags and more (while supplies last). See all the details at cats.rice.edu.
March 20 - Thursday (Moody Center for the Arts)
7 p.m. - Art Spiegelman keynote event, after which he will be awarded the first-ever Rice University Comic Art Teaching and Study Workshop Comics Pioneer award, nicknamed the “Yoink!” The award, designed by Christopher Sperandio, is an inlaid silver signet ring on a Waterford crystal base. Mr. Spiegelman will NOT be doing a public signing — but throughout the conference, autographed copies of his Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel, Maus, will be raffled off to attendees.
5 p.m. - Reception for the Project Wall exhibition COMICS WITHOUT BORDERS at the Moody Center for the Arts. A collaboration between Christopher Sperandio and the students of the Exhibition Design class, a curated and stylized installation presenting ink on paper drawings from The First Kingdom by comic artist Jack Katz. This is the first time these works have been seen by the public in 50 years.
March 21 - Friday (Moody Center for the Arts)
Start with coffee leading into a day of panels followed by a 6 p.m. talk by artist Robert Pruitt, a Houston native and now New York resident. Pruitt will talk about his work, exhibited at the Whitney Museum among others, and the influence that comics have had on him and his work.
March 22 - Saturday (Fondren Library)
The last day of panels. Featured on Saturday is a morning coffee reception for an exhibition of selections from the Comic Art Teaching and Study Workshop, including rare comic strip art such as Dick Tracy, Blondie and Family Circus, organized by Rice sophomore Sophia Adams-Giron as part of the Fondren Fellows program. The Woodson Research Center will hold an open house, presenting even more comics treasures on temporary display in their reading room.
March 23 - Sunday (Sewall Hall Print Shop)
Risograph and Letterpress workshops on Sunday afternoon in Sewall Hall. Make Risograph friendship bracelets and letterpress drink coasters while learning the basics of these print mediums.
March 24 - Monday (Moody Center for the Arts)
WEIRD SCIENCE - a day of workshops and artists talks aimed at Rice engineering and science students, but welcome to all Rice students. Who better to help Rice engineering students make better posters than the women who combine words and pictures for a living — namely, comic artists? Participants will get swag including art supplies and a WEIRD SCIENCE tote bag, on a first-come, first-served basis and while supplies last. Register if you plan to attend.