April 25, 2017

Event date: –

WHITE RIVER JUNCTION, VERMONT: This year’s Center for Cartoon Studies Commencement speaker is the critically acclaimed cartoonist and educator Paul Karasik. In addition to being a regular contributor to The New Yorker, Karasik is the co-creator of the graphic novel adaptation of Paul Auster’s City of Glass (with David Mazzucchelli), named by The Comics Journal as one of the “Best Comics of the 20^th Century.”

The Center for Cartoon Studies (CCS) Commencement Ceremony takes place on Saturday, May 13, 2017, at the Barrette Center for the Arts at Northern Stage.

Paul Karasik’s book, The Ride Together, a Memoir of Autism in the Family, (written with his sister, Judy) was chosen by the Autism Society of America as the “Best Literary Work of the Year.” He has edited two books collecting the complete works of cartoonist Fletcher Hanks. The first volume, I Shall Destroy All the Civilized Planets, received an Eisner Award in 2008.

Paul is a summer session instructor for The Center for Cartoon Studies, an adjunct professor at The Rhode Island School of Design, and has taught at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, the Scuola di Comics Internazionale in Italy, and the European School of Visual Arts in Angoulême, France.

Please join us in celebrating The Center for Cartoon Studies’ 11th Commencement ceremony. Thanks to the generosity of our community partner and host Northern Stage, The Center for Cartoon Studies’ ceremony will be held in the Barrette Center for the Arts at Northern Stage’s at 10am on Saturday, May 13. Doors open at 9:45 am.

A thesis exhibit featuring original work by the graduating class will open to the public on Saturday, May 13, following the commencement ceremony. The show will be on exhibit until June 9 in the CCS Gallery in the Colodny Building at 94 South Main Street, open Monday-Friday from 12-4 pm.

All events are free and open to the public.

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ESTABLISHED in 2005, The Center for Cartoon Studies awards the Master of Fine Arts and Certificates in cartooning through a two-year, full-time, on-location program. More than 150 students also attend annual summer workshops, and throughout the school year the Saturday Morning Cartoon Club offers cartooning instruction to Upper Valley children.

The Center for Cartoon Studies has played a crucial role in the revitalization of White River Junction, with an economic impact of over $20 million to the Upper Valley. The school brings students to the Upper Valley from across the country and around the world, including Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Ireland. Since its inception, hundreds of visiting artists, including many of the biggest names in comics and publishing, have made their way to the Upper Valley to conduct workshops and give lectures, including Lynda Barry, Kate Beaton, Alison Bechdel, Jules Feiffer, Jeff Kinney, Jonathan Lethem, Art Spiegelman, Garry Trudeau, Chris Ware, and Mo Willems. For more information, visit cartoonstudies.org.