As summer continues to fly by, it’s time to start thinking about the fall shows. One of the high points of the year for me is always the Small Press Expo (SPX), to be held in-person this year for the first time in three years.
SPX 2022 will take place at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel & Conference Center on September 17th and 18th. In those two days, there will be over 40 panels and workshops, as well as over 500 creators and publishers exhibiting.
Special guests include Keith Knight, Maia Kobabe, Ronald Wimberly, Ruben Bolling, Sofia Warren, Megan Kelso, and others. Tickets for the show are $20 for Saturday, $15 Sunday and $30 for a two-day pass. Proof of vaccination or negative COVID test is required, as are masks.
As any good show does, SPX has its own awards, the Ignatz Awards, and this year they are sponsored by Crowdfundr, “the creator-friendly crowdfunding platform”. Winners of the awards will be announced September 17 at 9 PM at the Ignatz Awards Ceremony. Previously, this was a festival prize, as winners were voted on by show attendees, but this year, voting will be done via email in mid to late August. Crowdfundr is a relatively new service, having launched on June 21 of this year. Previous awards sponsors included Kickstarter in 2019 and ComiXology in prior years.
“The comics and indie publishing community has been so welcoming to Crowdfundr, and being able to sponsor the most important awards in indie comics affirms how aligned we are with the comics community in the goal of supporting and honoring creators,” said David Barach, president of Crowdfundr. “While not as thrilling as being nominated or actually winning an Ignatz, being asked to sponsor the awards is a huge privilege for us and an exciting win for our approach to creator-friendly crowdfunding.”
Crowdfundr will also host two workshops at the show to introduce themselves and talk about crowdfunding comics. The programming schedule will be available later this month. Workshop signups are now open, with a variety of topics that include:
- Bodies, Birth, and Death: A Comics Workshop With Tom Hart
- Making Science Comics: Dinosaur Edition With Coco Fox and Annabel Driussi
- Figure Drawing For Cartoonists with Danielle Corsetto and Babs New
- Let’s Draw Comics! An Animal Cartooning Workshop for Kids
- Physical Self-Care For Artists And Writers
