The Ting Comic & Graphic Arts Festival (“Tingfest”) will be returning to London for the sixth year from April 16th to May 4th 2019. Named after Merle “Ting” Tingley, London Free Press’ editorial cartoonist from 1948 to 1986, Tingfest is a three-week celebration curated by TAP Centre for Creativity that showcases the work of past, present and future comic and graphic artists in Southwestern Ontario.
"We've featured over 55 artists at Tingfest over the past five years. I'm constantly amazed by the wealth of talent we have in our region of Southwestern Ontario. Once again we'll be showcasing an outstanding line-up or artists for the festival.” said Tingfest co-founder Diana Tamblyn.
“This year we have a particularly diverse roster of artists and styles represented such as: webcomics, comic books, manga, commercial art, illustration and fine art. This year's artists have worked in graphic design, animation, video games, clothing design and film and been published by such companies as Marvel, DC and Image comics. I'm also thrilled that this is the first year that half of our featured artists are women, which shows how the demographics of creators and readers of comics is changing."
2019 artists include Meg Dearlove (www.megdearlove.com), Mandy Forbes (www.mandyforbes.com), Derek Laufman (www.dereklaufman.com) , Jamie Lawson (www.polystudio.ca), Ocean in Space (www.oceaninspace.com), Ben O’Neil (www.benoneil.com), Karalyn Reuben (Instagram @karalynreuben), Joanna Skiba (www.joannaskiba.com), Michael Walsh (www.michaelwalshcomics.com) and archived work by Merle Tingley courtesy of the Western Archives.
“Every year I have the opportunity to explore Merle Tingley’s work as we curate this festival. His art continues to be relevant and thought-provoking all these years later. It is a wonderful reminder of London’s history that we get to share in the gallery for all Londoners, new and old, to enjoy,” said Sandra de Salvo, Executive Director of TAP.
Tingfest includes free events for all ages, including free artist talks, panel discussions, book signings, a pop-up shop with the work of local artists, a gallery display of artwork and this year will include a special networking event for creative professionals.
The complete schedule of events will be available later this month. To find out more or learn about the artists this year, visit tapcreativity.org/tingfest.