Students, alumni, and faculty from across the College will take part in the annual comics and cartooning festival, and the College will host festival programming at its SVA Flatiron Gallery.
When MoCCA Arts Fest—the annual festival presented by the Society of Illustrators—returns to Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood on March 28 and 29, the School of Visual Arts will be a major part of the weekend. Along with joining a diverse group of exhibitors at the Metropolitan Pavilion, SVA will also host festival programming at the SVA Flatiron Gallery, placing the College and its campus at the center of New York City’s largest independent comics and cartoon festival.
SVA’s official presence on the festival floor reflects the breadth of the College’s comics, animation, and independent publishing community. This year’s exhibitor directory includes BFA Comics, BFA Illustration, and the Cartoon Allies student organization at Table 1; BFA Animation at Table 2; SVA Continuing Education at Table 3; the SVA RisoLAB at Table 65; and MFA Visual Narrative at Table 66.
Among the exhibitors connected to BFA Comics and BFA Illustration are faculty Steve Brodner, Robyn Chapman, Jason Little, Wren McDonald, Eugenia Mello (MFA 2017 Illustration as Visual Essay), A.T. Pratt, Eva Redamonti, and Koren Shadmi (BFA 2006 Illustration); BFA Comics and BFA Illustration Chair Viktor Koen (MFA 1992 Illustration as Visual Essay); current student Izzy Liu; BFA Cartooning alumni Ray Kao (2021), Casper Manning (2021), Marc Mendes (2019), Bird Warde (2019), and Nakata (Knack) Whittle (2021); and BFA Illustration alumni Ash (Nico) De Leon (2017), Olivia Fields (2019), Mingyi Gan (2025), Nicholas Offerman (2011), Aatmaja Pandaya (2014), Radhia Rahman (2020), and Toma Vagner (2017).
The MFA Visual Narrative contingent includes faculty Andrew Alexander (MFA 2022 Illustration as Visual Essay), Srobana Bhattacharya (MFA 2024 Visual Narrative), and Gianna Meola (BFA 2014 Illustration); department staff Jada Jeni Bennett and Sabii Borno; current students Jordan Briggs, Sarah Carney, Molly McCracken, Ben Simon, Zoya To, Isy Weng, and and Alli Wolf; and program alumni Alexandra M. Barsky (2018; BFA 2013 Computer Art, Computer Animation, and Visual Effects), G. Davis Cathcart (2021), Tony Chao (2021), Katie Coleman (2026), Dina El-Aziz (2025), Indra Fonseca (2025), Olivia Gehrke (2025), Paris Jerome (2025), Kuppy (2025), Minju Lee (2026), Lily Lu (2026), Nada Mohammed (2020), Diana Poon (2024), Kelli Prizner (2025), and ST Schwartz (2019).
BFA Animation will be represented by program alumni Evelyn M. Baez (2019), Tina Maria Kouridakis (2019), Indra Rodies (2019), Alex Siple (2022), Mei Yee Tan (2019), and Breanna Watson (2019).
Members of the MFA Illustration as Visual Essay community will be in attendance as well, including faculty member and 2011 program alumnus Hyesu Lee, and program alumni Josh Bayer (2009), Lauren Simkin Berke (2003), Caitlin Du (2025), John Hendrix (2003), Yuke Li (2020), ShinYeon Moon (2017), Sanika Pawde (2021) and Kelsey Short (2020).
Other MoCCA 2026 exhibitors include Nick Bertozzi (MFA 2019 Art Practice), 2025 SVA Artist Residency Program alumnus A Liang Chan, and Zach Lydon (BFA 2012 Computer Art, Computer Animation, and Visual Effects).
Additionally, the Society of Illustrators has again partnered with SVA Continuing Education on professional development panels for aspiring and emerging artists. Among the scheduled events is “Comics and Education,” moderated by BFA Comics and BFA Illustration Chair Viktor Koen. And SVA alumni will also be part of MoCCA’s official programming: Caitlin Du will take part in Carousel, cartoonist R. Sikoryak’s long-running reading series; John Hendrix will join the Comics and Education panel; and Patrick McDonnell (BFA 1978 Media Arts) will participate in the panel discussion The Jack Kirby Way.
Fittingly, on Saturday, March 28, the same day that MoCCA opens, the BFA Comics and BFA Illustration Spring 2026 Exhibition begins its run at the SVA Chelsea Gallery, extending the weekend’s focus on student work beyond the festival itself.