FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 13, 2022
Contact: Jay B. Kalagayan, cxcfestival@gmail.com
CARTOON CROSSROADS COLUMBUS
Festival poster art revealed
COLUMBUS, Ohio, — Cartoon Crossroads Columbus (CXC) is a FREE, city-wide, four-day arts festival running October 6 – 9. CXC connects the global family of cartoon storytellers, comic makers, and animators with the people who love and are inspired by their art at a variety of venues throughout Columbus.
At a reception at Seventh Son Brewing Company Tuesday evening, CXC unveiled its artwork for the eighth annual festival. Jamaican cartoonist Robyn Smith joins an exclusive roster of artists who were chosen to design the official poster and artwork for Cartoon Crossroads Columbus’ festival.
“The term “CXC” in the Caribbean is actually the ‘Caribbean Examination Council’ and the biggest exam that happens on the islands,” says Robyn Smith, “So each sketch has the students engaged like the exam but it’s comics instead.”
Smith is known for her mini-comic The Saddest Angriest Black Girl in Town, illustrating DC Comics’ Nubia: Real One written by L.L. McKinney and Black Josei Press’ Wash Day written by Jamila Rowser. She has an MFA from the Center for Cartoon Studies and has also worked on comics for College Humor, Nike, and The Nib.
“We asked Robyn to create a poster for our event in her own style,” said CXC co-founder and Artistic Director Jeff Smith (no relation), “really for the same reason we chose her as the 2021 Emerging Artist, because we love looking at her art! And her comics skills are wonderful!”
“I really wanted the poster to center Caribbean life and to get no push back but, rather, enthusiasm was so surprising,” says Robyn Smith, “Everyone was so supportive along the way! Working with the team at CXC was an absolute joy and to have such amazing artists recognise and praise my work was also unbelievable.”
“Robyn’s artwork reflects everything CXC is to me,” says Jay B. Kalagayan, executive director of CXC, “A place that’s warm, playful, plenty of new stories to experience and … a few floating islands.”
Robyn Smith is also the CXC 2021’s Emerging Talent Award winner. Here is a link to the presentation made by CXC founders, Jeff Smith and Vijaya Iver: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYXB7BNVHCc
About Cartoon Crossroads Columbus
CXC is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that draws together Columbus educational and arts organizations including the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum, the Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus College of Art & Design, the Columbus Museum of Art and the Columbus Metropolitan Library. The Laughing Ogre, GFC: Gateway Film Center, and Pop Culture Studies at Ohio State University.
Our CXC 2022 partner is AAEC: Association of American Editorial Cartoonists.
The festival is generously supported by the Greater Columbus Arts Council, UBS, GoComics, Columbus Dispatch / Dispatch.com and Orange Barrel Media.
CXC aims to provide an international showcase for the best of cartoon art in all its forms, including comics, animation, editorial cartoons, newspaper strips, and beyond, in a city that is a growing center of importance to comics and cartooning. The festival also focuses on helping the next generation of young talent develop careers that invigorate the industry for years to come.
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