CCAD presents CXC Keynote Alison Bechdel in conversation with Hilary Price

Saturday, Oct. 2, 2021 | 7:30–8:30 p.m.

Joseph V. Canzani Center Auditorium
United States

Cartoon Crossroads Columbus runs Thursday, Sept. 30–Sunday, Oct. 3, and we’re excited to announce that on Saturday, Oct. 2, at 7:30 p.m. Columbus College of Art & Design will host a keynote conversation between two comics world luminaries: Alison Bechdel (Fun Home) and Hilary Price (Rhymes with Orange). Beyond their shared creative discipline, comics, Bechdel and Price share an interest in physical exercise and play, the focus of Bechdel's latest book, The Secret to Superhuman Strength. The pair, longtime friends, do something sports-related whenever they see each other, from Bechdel attending one of Price's hockey games to Price giving Bechdel and her partner a badminton set (which they use frequently) to them joining up to go Nordic skating together last winter.

Think that's over the top? The last time they were together in Columbus, they engaged in an arm-wrestling contest, so expect an energetic conversation between these two storied cartoonists.

Tickets to attend the conversation in Canzani Auditorium are free. A book signing by Bechdel and Price will take place immediately following the event. A video recording will also be available following the event.

For more information on CXC and the 2021 schedule of events, visit cartooncrossroadscolumbus.org.

About the artists

Alison Bechdel’s work includes the long-running comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For as well as the graphic memoirs Fun Home, Are You My Mother? and most recently The Secret to Superhuman Strength. The stage-musical adaptation of “Fun Home” premièred on Broadway in 2015, and received five Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Bechdel is the recipient of an Eisner Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and a MacArthur Fellowship. She lives in Vermont where from 2017-2019 she held the post of state Cartoonist Laureate.

Alison Bechdel | Photo by Jeanette Spicer

Hilary Price has been writing and drawing Rhymes With Orange, her award-winning daily newspaper comic strip, since 1995. She teaches single panel cartooning at The Center For Cartoon Studies and has told stories for The Moth and NPR. Her cartoons are in the collections of The Library of Congress, The Billy Ireland Cartoon Art Museum at The Ohio State University, and The San Francisco Cartoon Art Museum. She lives in western Massachusetts.

Comics @ CCAD

Comics & Narrative Practice at CCAD allows students to create original comics and graphic novels. They learn how to shape narrative elements and invent signature styles while immersing themselves in the profession.

See student work

See the faculty

Spitball is a CCAD comics anthology designed, published, and marketed by students at Columbus College of Art & Design. Each issue collects comics created by the students in collaboration with professional comic writers. Past contributors include Matt Fraction, Spike Trotman, Noelle Stephenson, Ben Passmore, Brian Michael Bendis, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Katie Skelly, Ron Wimberley, Carta Monir, and more!

See the issues and learn more at ccad.edu/spitball.

FAQs

Arrival and parking

The will call table, inside CCAD’s Joseph V. Canzani Center, 60 Cleveland Ave., will open at 5 p.m. for ticket holder check in. Current CCAD students and alumni will be tabling in Canzani during this time as well, and we encourage visitors to stop by and visit with the artists. The doors to Canzani Auditorium will open at 6:30 p.m. Seats that are not claimed by 7:25 p.m. will be promptly released to standby ticket holders.
Parking on CCAD’s campus is free. Click here for a map with parking information.

Health and safety

Masks covering the nose and mouth are required for everyone while indoors on CCAD’s campus.
Seating will be at capacity for this event; there will be no empty seats for social distancing. Guests who do not comply with CCAD’s mask requirement will be asked to leave.
If you are sick or experiencing any COVID-19 symptoms, please do not attend this event. If you need to cancel your reservation, please email development@ccad.edu.
If you have any accessibility questions or concerns, please email development@ccad.edu.

Tickets and lining up for entry

Registered guests will check in at the will call table inside Canzani Atrium. Please be prepared to present an ID that matches the name on the reservation. Event staff will place a wristband on each confirmed guest, which will allow them to move between spaces without having to check in again.
Seating is open and will be on a first-come-first-seated basis. Canzani Atrium will have space for guests to line up inside before doors open. Seats that are not claimed by 7:25 p.m. will be promptly released to standby ticket holders.

Book signing with the cartoonists

Both Alison Bechdel and Hilary Price will be signing books in Canzani Atrium following the event.
Guests may each bring a maximum of two books (or related items) to be signed by each cartoonist.
Guests are welcome to have items signed by both cartoonists, but must wait in each line in turn.
Books will also be for sale by local booksellers Laughing Ogre Comics before and after the event in Canzani Atrium.

Post-event recording