Events

Join young artists and top cartoonists at second ALYAC Fest in Ashland

At the Ashland Library Young Artists Comics Fest on March 21, creators ages 8-18 will be displaying their work alongside professional artists and cartoonists.

Young artists will get to display their work alongside professionals like Kayla Miller, top, and Lincoln Peirce at ALYAC Fest. Courtesy Photos/ALYAC Fest

By Peter Chianca

3 minutes to read

Artists of the future, have we got the event for you. At the Ashland Library Young Artists Comics Fest on March 21, creators ages 8-18 will be displaying their work alongside professional artists and cartoonists — and selling them too, for cash money.

“The great thing about the space is that we haven’t had to limit the number of kids, because we just add another table,” says Meena Jain, director of the Ashland Public Library. “Because that’s really the focus — we want to make sure that the kids that want to table can.”

The fest is still taking applications from young artists, and cartoonist and author Deanna Soukiasian — who’s running the young artists portion of the event — says experience (or lack of such) is not a factor for kids who want to participate.

“It’s very DIY,” says Soukiasian. “It’s the spirit of underground comics making … that kind of DIY process where you don’t have to be a professional right off the bat. You can go to your library, use the copier, use the staplers, they have the materials, and I think it’s an awesome jumping-off point for a lot of young folks.”

Beyond that, the workshops and presentations at the event — presenters and guests include Kayla Miller (the “Click” and “Besties” series) and Lincoln Peirce (“Big Nate, “Max & the Midknights”) — will introduce participants to the art of comics and cartooning from the ground up.

“My very first experience with cartooning was at my own public library doing workshops with a local cartoonist, so I think this is a great way to introduce those young artists to comics,” says Soukiasian, who’s currently finishing up an absurdist graphic novel centering on two of her characters, Existential Tree and his friend Conspiracy Bush.

This is the second time Jain has mounted the ALYAC Fest, the first one having had a successful launch last July. She took on the project in part to fill the gap left by the Boston Kids Comics Fest, which went on hiatus after 2024, but also to provide an outlet for young creatives who may feel like they don’t have a place to share their talents and interests.

“The bottom line is, we want a place for kids to feel welcome and included,” Jain says. “And I feel like a lot of kids who are making comics are the outsiders. They’re not necessarily the football players, and the soccer players, and the brainiacs, and the things like that. They’re artists, you know?

“I know that kids that draw tend to feel very left out of society, acceptance, inclusion, things like that, because they’re creative,” she says. “And I want them to have a place where their skill is valued — and monetarily valued as well.”

Applications from young artists will be accepted through March 17 via this form.

The ALYAC Festis coming to Ashland Library, 66 Front St., Ashland, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 21. In addition to the Young Artists tables, headliners Miller and Peirce, and tables by other professional cartoonists, the event will feature comics character cosplayers, comic and drawing workshops, food trucks, a calmer space and quiet drawing area, and ASL interpreters available. Full schedule is available here. Admission is free but registration is requested. Free parking is available at the library and in the municipal lot across the street. ALYAC is produced in partnership by the Friends of Ashland Public Library, Boston Comic Arts Foundation, and the Boston Kids Comics Fest.

For the full conversation about ALYAC, stream or download the latest episode of “Strip Search: The Comic Strip Podcast,” below.