After years of awkwardness regarding temperature, comfort and general feng sui, MoCCA is leaving the Lexington Armory for a new venue in 2015. Mocca Fest’s new home is Center 548, which based on the photos on its website, looks like an open, airy modernish venue more like The Puck Building, where MoCCA was born.
The 2015 show is set for April 11-12th and the first GUests of Honor have been announced: Aline Kominsky-Crumb, Scott McCloud, Raina Telgemeier, and J.H. Williams, a nice broad-based, genre spanning list.
In a statement, Society of Illustrators Executive Director Anelle Miller said, “We are so thrilled to usher in a new era for the MoCCA Fest in 2015! Our guests of honor have each left indelible impressions on the comics medium, and how that medium is seen by audiences all over the world. We are proud to host them, as we grow into a new space and an expanded slate of programming that will form a dynamic festival that New York will be proud of. And there’s so much more to come!”
Center 548 is located on West 22nd Street, near the Highline and a bevy or art galleries and other cutting edge cultural institutions that fit in with the MoCCA message. MoCCA Festival will take up three floors of exhibits with on site programming, an art exhibit and a rooftop café. There will be a small reduction in the number of tables available but table prices will remain the same, with applications opening on November 3rd. For those driving in, it’s right next to the West Side Highway.
The new venue will open a new chapter in MoCCA’s history. I’ll definitely miss being able to roll out of bed 10 minutes before a panel, but hey, the nabe just wasn’t the same after Baoguette closed. At the very least the new venue looks to be climate controlled, which is something the Armory wasn’t.
Photo from the Center 548 website.
Good excuse to check out the Highline now that it’s completed, but wow, that’s way the hell by 11th Avenue! I suppose one could park at Chelsea Piers and walk over…
Now that MOCCA is paying for AC again they can move back to June and get out of my month.
The Armory has 28,000 sq.ft. of space.
The Center has 35,000.
Three floors, plus the roof.
The big question: where will the panels be held?
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