SUDBURY -- The Sudbury Graphic-Con will welcome thousands of the new “cool kids” to a local arena this June to highlight pop culture icons and celebrate geekdom.
Klingons and hobbits, elves and the fae folk will invade the Sudbury Arena Saturday, June 13 for the sixth annual Graphic-Con.
While bringing their special interests to the fore, participants are inviting the uninitiated in the imaginative arts to join them and find an expression of whimsy appealing to their happy place.
Local artists and artisans 'lovin' the 'Con'
Zombie Portrait Artist Rob Sacchetto says he’s been at Sudbury’s Graphic-Con since its inception, and he’s excited to be attending again this year.
(Photo: Sudbury Graphic-Con)
“I love meeting and talking to the fans,” he says. “I always work when I’m at shows which means I’m constantly drawing at my table and interacting with folks… I’m more than happy to chat.”
(Courtesy: Rob Sacchetto)
Spooky Sudbury author Mark Leslie, who grew up in the Greater Sudbury community of Levack, says “there's something about the amazing spirit in my hometown that surpasses the spirit and energy of anyplace else I've gone to.”
Leslie says he will have copies of his latest story collection, Nobody’s Hero, available. “It’s dedicated to Neil Peart, drummer and lyricist for Rush,” he says in a text to CTV News. “The lead story in it is inspired from a Rush song Losing It.”
He says other works will also be available, including the latest installment in the Canadian Werewolf series.
The work doesn’t end when one story is published, however. He tells CTV News he’s jumping into another project right away.
“I'll have another non-fiction ghost story book published in the vein of Spooky Sudbury. This one will be a book about haunted objects,” said Leslie.
You can learn more about Leslie and his work at his website.
Organizers Looking for Volunteers
CTV Northern Ontario graphic artist Amanda Harte is one of the organizers of the event.
She says the organizing committee is looking for new members and people willing to serve on the board of directors.
There will be a general meeting at 7 p.m., Jan. 22, at the main branch of the Sudbury Public Library on Mackenzie Street for those interested. Check out the Sudbury Graphic-Con Facebook page.
So, if you are wandering the floor at Graphic-Con 2020, asking yourself what rabbit-hole or blue-event horizon you slipped into, remember what Albert Einstein postulated: “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.”
A perfect summation of the creative “why.”
