This August I showed my work at both Autoptic in Minneapolis and CAKE in Chicago. I had never tabled at either show but had attended CAKE many times when I used to live in Chicago. The shows were only a week apart so I spent the time in between hanging out in Chicago, seeing friends and taking zoom calls from my hotel room.
First was Autoptic, held at the Coffman Memorial Union on the University of Minnesota campus. Saturday the 18th was exhibitors day, and on Sunday there were panels at MCAD. This is a smaller show and sales were a bit slow for me, but I had some nice conversations with people coming through and my table mate Shengyuan Chen. Sunday’s panel “Publishing Match: Traditional vs. Indie vs. Self” was a highlight – a discussion of the pros and cons of all methods of publishing, which seemed to be just as valuable as interesting to the panelists as it was to the audience!
On Monday I said goodbye to my Minneapolis hosts Jake and Jared and hopped on an Amtrak train (!) to Chicago. Do I recommend an 8 hour train ride, with spotty wifi and a bathroom without soap? Not exactly… I can’t say I’d do that again. But it was cheap, nice to look out the window and has a lower carbon footprint than flying!
David came and joined me in Chicago while I worked remote from the South Loop. We managed to squeeze in a little sight seeing and catch ups with old friends. I also got to visit some of my besties hanging on the walls at the Art Institute of Chicago!
CAKE (the Chicago Alternative Comics Expo) took place at the Zhou B. Art Center on August 24th and 25th, with exhibits both days. Although that means I wasn’t able to attend any of the panels, I chatted with other artists about process and work/ life/ art balance (validating and helpful!). I also made some quick sales of the Votes for Women anthology, maybe due to the excitement about Kamala Harris’ nomination which happened in Chicago earlier that week! My table was a little dark so on Saturday night I went out and bought one of those rechargeable LED lamps which helped a little bit.
I headed home with a backpack full of other comics and zines — plenty to read on the plane! A highlight is Gina Wynbrandt’s comic “You’re the Center of Attention” from 2023! I love her unashamed and sometimes raunchy work; this comic touches on themes of celebrity and self-absorption which I’m also tackling in some of my latest unpublished projects.
A huge thanks to all the organizers of both festivals, it was great to be included in these shows.