Features

SVA at the 2025 MoCCA Arts Fest

Check out talks, comics, demos, and more by dozens of SVA community members at this year’s MoCCA Arts Festival.

March 13, 2025 by Kylie Mitchell
A brightly colored poster featuring cute cartoon characters around the text "MFA VN." At the bottom says "MFA Visual Narrative" with more information. A brightly colored poster featuring cute cartoon characters around the text "MFA VN." At the bottom says "MFA Visual Narrative" with more information.

The MFA Visual Narrative ad in this year’s MoCCA Arts Fest program by current student Mart Smooth. Via @mfavn.

The MFA Visual Narrative ad in this year’s MoCCA Arts Fest program by current student Mart Smooth. Via @mfavn.

Credit: Mart Smooth
Credit: Mart Smooth

The MoCCA Arts Festival returns this weekend, Saturday, March 15, and Sunday, March 16, at the Metropolitan Pavilion and SVA Flatiron Gallery. Presented by the  Society of Illustrators, this two-day event is New York City’s most prominent independent comics and cartoon festival, drawing over 9,000 attendees annually. Exhibiting artists come together from all over to display their work, award-winning honorees speak about their careers, and other featured artists conduct demos, lectures, and panels. This year’s sponsors include the School of Visual Arts, its BFA Animation and MFA Visual Narrative programs, the SVA RisoLab, and SVA Continuing Education.


For this year’s MoCCA Fest, programming director and SVA faculty member Bill Kartalopoulos has organized a diverse range of discussions that explore the current state of comics. On Saturday, March 15, at 12:00pm, SVA faculty member Frances Jetter will talk about tracing her ancestors’ immigrant journey at the panel discussion “New York City: History, Fantasy, and Reality.” Jetter’s new book on the subject, Amalgam: An Immigrant, His Labor Union, and His American Family in Brooklyn, was published by Fantagraphics last year.

An ink drawing of five people and two paragraphs on the right. It says "Every summer, my grandfather's union buddies were among the visitors. Did they ever speak about the old days? He had thrown acid on cloth to sabotage the operation of shops where workers labored seven days a week without a living wage, because that was unfair. Always a party person, my grandfather would have wanted to leap from his grave to celebrate when billionaire businessman Mark Cuban (owner of the Dallas Mavericks and 'shark' investor on Shark Tank) shared profits with workers who had helped him succeed, declaring, in 2016, 'If I party, everyone parties.'" An ink drawing of five people. They have rather big heads and they seem to have deformities on their faces.

Excerpt from SVA faculty member Frances Jetter’s Amalgam: An Immigrant, His Labor Union, and His American Family in Brooklyn (Fantagraphics, 2024).

Excerpt from SVA faculty member Frances Jetter’s Amalgam: An Immigrant, His Labor Union, and His American Family in Brooklyn (Fantagraphics, 2024).

Credit: Fantagraphics
Credit: Fantagraphics

Kartalopoulos will also be moderating a talk on Saturday at 1:30pm, exploring the contemporary comics industry and its proximity to the “art world.” At 4:30pm, BFA Comics and BFA Illustration Chair Viktor Koen (MFA 1992 Illustration as Visual Essay) will speak with Senior SVA RisoLab Technician Sarula Bao, Nakata (Knack) Whittle (BFA 2021 Cartooning), and SVA faculty member and publisher/editor Robyn Chapman (First Second Books, Paper Rocket) about their own experiences and the advice they give to beginning artists. 


In “Dissidents in Exile: Badiucao and Edel Rodriguez” on Saturday, March 15, 12:00pm, SVA faculty member Edel Rodriguez—known for his political editorial work and graphic memoir Worm—will talk with scholar Paul Gravett about comics as dissent from a position of exile. And at 3:00pm, SVA faculty member Josh Bayer (MFA 2009 Illustration as Visual Essay; BFA 2007 Cartooning) and Kartalopoulos will chat with a panel of artists about their lifelong relationship to drawing in “Rivers of Ink: Burns, Hernandez, and Tomine.”

A novel cover depicting a little boy and a large man with a mask on his face walking down a path. The words say, "Josh Bayer," "Unended," and "Uncivilized." A novel cover depicting a little boy and a large man with a mask on his face walking down a path. The words say, "Josh Bayer," "Unended," and "Uncivilized."

Unended (Uncivilized Books, 2023), a graphic novel by SVA faculty member Josh Bayer (MFA 2009 Illustration as Visual Essay; BFA 2007 Cartooning).

Unended (Uncivilized Books, 2023), a graphic novel by SVA faculty member Josh Bayer (MFA 2009 Illustration as Visual Essay; BFA 2007 Cartooning).

Credit: Uncivilized Books
Credit: Uncivilized Books

SVA Continuing Education’s Professional Development panel returns for a discussion on staying mentally healthy as an artist between Kartalopoulos, illustrator and SVA Student Health and Counseling Services therapist Katie Brookoff, LCSW; SVA faculty member Hyesu Lee (MFA 2011 Illustration as Visual Essay) and author and illustrator Fran Meneses. (Recordings of from previous years’ MoCCA Fest panels are available on their website here.)

Five illustrations in five different color schemes. A person reading an magazine is mostly red, another individual is at a screen printing press in mostly blue, a person sets up a table to sell art in mostly teal, another person sits at a desk creating floor plans in yellow, and lastly someone is packing clothes in purple. Five illustrations in five different color schemes. A person reading an magazine is mostly red, another individual is at a screen printing press in mostly blue, a person sets up a table to sell art in mostly teal, another person sits at a desk creating floor plans in yellow, and lastly someone is packing clothes in purple.

Badge artwork for the 2025 MoCCA Arts Fest by Olivia Fields (BFA 2019 Illustration). Via @tncts.

Badge artwork for the 2025 MoCCA Arts Fest by Olivia Fields (BFA 2019 Illustration). Via @tncts.

Credit: Olivia Fields
Credit: Olivia Fields

Olivia Fields (BFA 2019 Illustration) made this year’s MoCCA Fest badge artwork, and discussed the project in a recent interview with Comics Beat. Drop by Table 019 during the festival to check out her assortment of prints, stationery items, stickers, textiles, washi, and zines. Fields will also participate in Master of Ceremonies R. Sikoryak’s long-running series of comics readings, Carousel, on Sunday, March 16, at 3:00pm at the SVA Flatiron Gallery, 133/141 West 21st Street. 


Also taking place at the SVA Flatiron Gallery is a BFA Comics pop-up show that extends to the SVA Flatiron Windows space and features selections from BFA Comics senior thesis projects, Friday, March 14, through Sunday, March 16. 


Several SVA departments are also tabling at this year’s festival, including BFA Comics and BFA Illustration, along with the SVA Cartoon Allies student organization (001, 002), SVA Continuing Education (004, 005, 006), SVA Animation (003), MFA Visual Narrative (016, 017) and the SVA RisoLab (012, 013, 014, 015). The departments will present work from their students and alumni, and RisoLAB staff and artists-in-residence will host a demo station where attendees can create unique prints on, courtesy of Riso, Inc., and LDI Color Toolbox. 

A white, salmon pink, and purple poster that displays the words "Power of Print" in decreasing font size, left aligned. On the right there is a vertical series showing the same solid callout being printed in different transparencies. It says, "RISOLAB AT MOCCA 2025" as well as more information. There's an illustration of people lining up to use a printer and a monochrome image of a printer as well. A white, salmon pink, and purple poster that displays the words "Power of Print" in decreasing font size, left aligned. On the right there is a vertical series showing the same solid callout being printed in different transparencies. It says, "RISOLAB AT MOCCA 2025" as well as more information. There's an illustration of people lining up to use a printer and a monochrome image of a printer as well.

SVA RisoLab workshop poster designed by SVA faculty member and Lead SVA RisoLab Technician Sarula Bao.

SVA RisoLab workshop poster designed by SVA faculty member and Lead SVA RisoLab Technician Sarula Bao.

Credit: Sarula Bao
Credit: Sarula Bao

Looking for feedback on your own work? MFA Visual Narrative invites attendees to register for their portfolio review contest—fill out the form here for a chance to have a one-on-one portfolio review with the department chair, Nathan Fox.

An illustration with a yellow border and a pink background of three rats with shoes and accessories holding hands and looking upwards. There are star-like symbols around them. An illustration with a yellow border and a pink background of three rats with shoes and accessories holding hands and looking upwards. There are star-like symbols around them.

A preview of a new zine by Kaitlin Brito (BFA 2022 Illustration) will be available at Table 044. Art via @kbrito_art.

A preview of a new zine by Kaitlin Brito (BFA 2022 Illustration) will be available at Table 044. Art via @kbrito_art.

Credit: Kaitlin Brito
Credit: Kaitlin Brito

Over 25 SVA community members will be tabling at this year’s festival. From comics to riso prints and more, check out a list of SVA exhibitors and their table numbers below:



The 2025 MoCCA Arts Festival takes place Saturday, March 15, and Sunday, March 16, 11:00am – 6:00pm, at the Metropolitan Pavilion, 125 West 18th Street, and SVA Flatiron Gallery, 133/141 West 21st Street. Day tickets are available for $20, and weekend tickets are available for $30 online and in-person; purchase here. Student tickets (undergraduate-level and below) are available for $15 and may only be purchased in person with a valid student ID (credit cards only). Tickets grant attendees access to the exhibitor’s hall and programming. Children 10 and under can attend for free.

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