The Yonkers Comic Celebration & Convention, best known as “YC3”, is a 2022-23 Arts Westchester Yonkers Arts Initiative grant winning project that will exhibit the comic books created by artists of all ages and skill levels in the spring of 2023. This event is an offshoot of Evan Bishop’s successful program, I AM A HERO: Comic Book Creation Workshops. Evan has partnered with Yonkers Arts to produce this fun program that is free to participate. It is the mission of YC3 to bring together the largest group of comic book creators that the city of Yonkers has ever experienced. The participants will plan, produce, and publish their very own comic books that features their original superhero, who addresses/resolves a social issue that affects their community, city, nation and/or planet. A team of professional artists, youth advocates and educators will evaluate the submissions to ensure each comic book meets the guidelines set forth. The selected comic books will be exhibited at the newly renovated Yonkers Arts Project Space and online at our virtual art gallery
Dates: June 22 (Grand Opening), June 24 (Comic Con), July 2 (Closing) Location: Yonkers Arts Project Space, 216 Lake Avenue, Yonkers, NY
YC3 is not an art competition. The goal of YC3 is to celebrate individual artists and collaborating teams of artists that use the medium of comic books/sequential art to tell a good and unique story about how their heroes utilize their superpowers to help others. They will access the free downloadable YC3 comic book template that can be printed out or created in digital format using a drawing app such as Procreate.
Their hero must meet the following criteria to be selected for the exhibition: • Must be an original hero. They CANNOT use superheroes that already exists • Must select an approved social issue • Must have no more than three superpowers that address/solve said social issue • Absolutely NO weapons or blood in their comic book (no guns, swords, hammers, etc.) • Their superpowers cannot be used to harm or destroy other people, animals, or nature
Participants are encouraged to include aspects of their own culture, ethnicity, beliefs, and narrative into the story of their hero to demonstrate the authenticity of their superhero.
The vision is to make YC3 an annual event in the city of Yonkers and put us on the map as an incubator for emerging and established creative talent. In time, comic book/graphic novel publishers, companies as well as major media and entertainment corporations will flock to this event be in attendance to witness these phenomenal artists from around the corner, state, country, and world showcase their talents in Yonkers, our great “City of Hills”.