Comic-Con Museum Youth Panel
ARTS students Ysabella, Zayra, Ever, and Daniel participated in a youth panel at the Comic-Con Museum, where they discussed their experience of creating a comic of their own and participating in the design of the art exhibition Out of Darkness: Comic Art in the Times of COVID, which opened last November at the Comic-Con Museum.
This panel discussion was moderated by Alonso Nuñez from Little Fish Comic Studio and supported by experienced mental health practitioner Dr. Janice Huggins. The panel provided a platform where youth shared how joining ARTS @ Home virtual classes during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic allowed them to use their free time to express themselves and cope with the changes around them.
Ever R. prepares to speak at the Comic-Con Museum Youth Panel
Ever R. who created the comic Where They Grow explains “In a way, the pandemic helped me with my art journey. It allowed for more time for myself to just endlessly draw. I would stay up till 3 am just working on concept art, sleep for 5 hours, do my school work, then immediately go back to drawing.”
Most of the panel participants shared similar stories where the lockdown allowed them to really focus on their artwork and zone into their illustrations. Rather than sharing stories of despair or disappointment, young artists addressed how they took advantage of this unexpected surge of free time:
“In all honesty, my comic was not [fully] affected by the pandemic. Most of the changes were visual, and style related. I was able to do more research on my comic’s time period, fashion trends, architecture, etc. “
Additionally, the audience was able to learn about the peculiarities in each comic story and their sources of inspiration. Hare Krishna and Hinduism are a great source of inspiration to Where They Grow, a story centered in a civil war between witches and humans. As Ever described, “My comic story is not black and white, each character's reasonings are justified to themselves [... I’m inspired by stories] where there is no true villain, stories about self-realization and personal growth.”
And you can see how introspection and growth are an important part of Ever’s storytelling. Find their work on instagram at: @thekkitchensink
The panel was just a snapshot of the ongoing collaboration between ARTS and the Comic-Con Museum, where youth enrolled in comic illustration programs at ARTS, participate in a series of Exhibition Design workshops to learn how to curate and install an exhibition featuring their own artwork at the Comic-Con Museum.
We are excited to see how youth artwork reaches multiple panels, museums, and audiences and we look forward to continuing collaborations that strengthen the storytelling potential of the young people in our community.
