28/09/2017
TexasCartoonists
Dear colleague,
We are all aware of the deadly hurricanes that have hit in recent weeks, disasters compounded by the devastating earthquake in Mexico City. A number of NCS members contacted me to ask if there was something that the NCS and NCSF could do to help the victims of these terrible tragedies.
Many of you will recall that in 2001, in response to the events of 9/11, we staged an event that we dubbed "Thanks & Giving." When newspaper readers opened the comics page on that Thanksgiving morning, they were greeted by the sight that practically every comic strip that day carried a notice that the original art was for sale at a special auction to benefit those families devastated by the terrorist attacks. The effort received great support from press, TV and radio and we raised more than $50,000.
16 years later, it feels appropriate that we lend our efforts to help out once more. Let's use our unique talents and influence to try and give a little aid and relief to those who have been impacted by these terrible tragedies. A lot of people could really use our help.
We have partnered with our friends at Heritage Auctions, the industry leaders in this field, to create a special auction that will run for one week from November 23. We are still working out the exact details but all proceeds will go to disaster relief.
We are asking EVERY NCS member and EVERY professional artist to participate, not just the syndicated community.
If you are a syndicated cartoonist, whether you create a strip, a panel or an editorial cartoon, please consider donating the art that runs on Thursday, November 23 to the "NCS Thanks & Giving Auction." You can include a tagline message that reads something like:
To benefit victims of the recent natural disasters, this original artwork is up for auction at www.HA.com/NCS
In 2001, most cartoonists still created their art the traditional way, inky fingers and paint splashed garments galore. We recognize that many of us have now switched, perhaps exclusively, to creating our art in a digital fashion. So we are asking that either:
a) You consider creating an original piece of art once more (we KNOW you haven't forgotten how to draw with pen and paper!)
b) or please raid your archives to find a suitable piece to donate to the auction. (You can amend the tagline to read something like:
Please visit the NCS auction at www.HA.com/NCS to bid on an original [name] cartoon to benefit disaster victims.
If you work doesn't run in syndication, we still want your help and participation.
Use your social media and online platforms to let your fans and followers know what we are doing, both in advance of the event and on the day.
We're asking you to dig deep into your flat files for a valuable comic strip, illustration, or comic book page and donate it to the NCS disaster relief art auction. If you don't have a great piece of published art, draw or paint something new and sensational! If you don't have time to work up a modern masterpiece ... or you are an NCS non-artist associate member ... please dig out something by another great artist from your original art collection. (It'll just end up going to your ingrate heirs some day, so why not use it to help ease someone's pain and suffering?)
This is a joint effort between the NCSF and the NCS, so in the coming weeks you will no doubt be hearing from either me or NCS President Bill Morrison as plans develop and unfold. We are reaching out to other cartoonist organizations asking them to partner with us. I'm sure that the syndicate press offices and various publishers will want to help, so you will probably be hearing from them too.
We will let you know where to send the original art for collection and give details of where you should send a digital copy to be displayed online ... but right now, we wanted to let you know of this initiative to give you time to put something appropriate together.
Let's come together and use our unique gifts and talents to benefit those who could really use our help right now.
Best regards,
Steve McGarry
Bill Morrison
