Comics Culture: A Collective Effort  

Please introduce yourself with your name, pronouns, where home is for you, what you do and one good thing you like or love about yourself.

Kelly Froh, she/her, living in Seattle, WA with my long-term partner Max Clotfelter. I’m a working class comic artist, Executive Director/showrunner of Short Run Seattle, a homecare worker for older adults, along with a few other “gig” jobs! Something I like about myself is that I can connect with and make even the grumpiest senior citizen smile.

How long have you been organizing? Was Short Run your first show you helped run or were there others before it?

I’ve been an arts organizer with Short Run since 2011. Before that, I worked as a secretary for almost 15 years, and organized senior talent shows and helped with other marketing events for retirement communities.

The thing we both remember about Short Run is how attentive you were to your guest's needs and even you personally checked in on both of us. Does that come naturally to you?

What makes you do this? Checking in on everyone. Planning and seeing a show like Short Run through requires a lot of bandwidth, so adding in checking in on guests, seems like extra work. We appreciate it, but it seems like it must be tiring.

Thanks so much, I appreciate hearing that. Being a comics artist myself, I know that “tabling” is hard. Your books are on display, but so are you. We comic artists are a sensitive bunch, right? I try to let people know that I appreciate them showing up. I want them to see the fest floor as a welcoming space. My team and I try to get around to all exhibitors during the day, to check-in and at least say hi.

Did you graduate from Emily Carr? (Lawrence studied abroad there.) How did you end up in Vancouver, BC? What were you studying, does anything you learned there get incorporated into running a show like Short Run?

I graduated in 2006 with a “General Fine Arts” BFA. When I decided to go back to college at age 28, I really only wanted to go to art school, and only at Emily Carr, so luckily, I got in there. I was mostly into printmaking and painting, though I continued to draw comics and large drawings all throughout the 4 years. It was still too soon for comics to be taken seriously there, but I did sneak them in as my final grad project. I organized 1 big art show and was involved in a few smaller ones, but mostly the experience of art school really just made me very determined to commit to comics, that it was the medium that fit my artistic intentions.

Do you still work with Seniors Creating Art? What were you doing there? What was your experience like and why work with seniors?

I worked for Seniors Creating Art for 10 years, facilitating art classes in different senior homes and community centers, for older adults aged 55 and up. The classes were free, and I was a traveling teacher who showed up with all the supplies. I taught mostly acrylic painting, but also linoleum block printing, and a few comics classes. I really love working with older adults, so these classes really energized me, emotionally. I felt a great sense of connection, and was happy and proud to bring art into their lives. Often an older adult would reluctantly be there, or walk in and say, “I’m no artist!” and feel like they would do badly or fail, but I never let anyone feel that way - I tried to separate the concept of “art” with the act of painting, and likened us painting together like us baking cookies, or sewing, just a fun hobby with low stakes. People were often surprised by what they made, and at the very least admitted it was fun, or an interesting hour!

There seems to be a strong emphasis on self-published creators who are featured at Short Run. Does your self-publishing background have anything to do with that? Where does that come from?

From the beginning, self-published mini-comics are what has always excited us the most. We don’t want to be another comic-con, we want to be the festival for the smaller batch books, the handmade, the experiments, the weird stuff. Though you will find some graphic novels at Short Run, the focus is always the self-publisher and the most unique mini-comics we can find.

How much of the planning for Short Run do you have to handle? It seems like you are very much hands-on. Is that by choice or is it out of necessity?

I’m the last remaining co-founder and I take that role very seriously. I am also the only paid employee, so I do most of the ‘admin’ myself. We pay designers and artists for our poster design and other ‘promo’, these roles get changed up every year. I also lead the vision for the show, but I bring in people who love Short Run for their input, opinions, criticisms, special knowledge, and then everyone works on fest day (7 Board members, 11 Advisory Board members, 30 volunteers). There’s a small group of people that have been with me since year one (I have literally watched them grow up from age 19 on!) They are essential to me. They see potential problems, they are logistical-thinkers, and they have a youthful energy to run around the fest from 9 am to midnight making sure everything runs smoothly. I also have friends who care about Short Run (and me!), and are there to uplift the organization.

How involved are you in all of the extra programs, grants and activities that also go into Short Run? We are always impressed at how much comes with attending Short Run.

My team and I plan the satellite events that surround the show, and figure out how we can make the most of all these artists being here? Seattle isn’t always on people’s book tour, so we appreciate people coming here. Through smaller art shows, microgrants, offsite-events, we can shine the light on a few more artists. All these smaller activities feed into the festival by hopefully gaining more audience for everyone. It all depends on how much money we can raise throughout the year - grants are one thing, but community donations bring more freedom. We can re-grant money more easily from an unrestricted pool. As much as we bring in, we spend; it’s a scary, revolving process that we’ve somehow been able to keep going this long.

Is there a time when you see yourself getting a break from Organizing and just attending or relaxing for a year or so?

When I choose to do that, it will be because I’m shutting Short Run down. I am so involved, and it’s become my “life’s work” in a sense, far too personal to be healthy, probably. But I think it’s ok, because Short Run has a specific ethos, someone different could start up something new. My goal was to take the fest to its 10th year, and this year is our 13th, so who knows how long it will go on. I’m very concerned that if our gov’t decides to stop funding arts & culture, the federal grants dry up, the federal grants that get awarded to the states go away, and that will leave thousands of art orgs asking all the same people for money. I don’t imagine the smaller orgs will be able to keep going for long. We’re going to try to hang in there as long as we can!

Do you find yourself trying to make new comics and zines for yourself to bring to Short Run?

How do you maintain your art practices while also Organizing and doing all the other work you do?

This is an ongoing issue for me, losing myself a bit, pausing my ‘practice’ for long periods of time. But I know how it feels to have something new to bring to the fest, and the feeling of NOT having something new. I try to always have a new mini to have at the table my partner runs for both of us.

What does the future look like for you? Only share stuff you are comfortable with.

I have a lot of ideas for comics I want to do. I’m very into what I am doing now, making comics about eldercare, old age, and how society is evolving so fast, technology blazing by, and there doesn’t seem to be any thought for the thousands of older adults that do not have the same access, either because of just not having the right devices, or because they lack mental faculty, or physical dexterity, to properly use. That, and the general state of bafflement many are in because they can’t imagine, or never foresaw, a world where their kids and grandkids could never get ahead, will never own a home, and will perpetually struggle. Spending time with seniors gives me access to a different perspective on things, and I’m witnessing such a gaping divide in their lived experience and how we are doing now. The fact that we can even talk and laugh together, when we are from completely different worlds, is fascinating to me.

When you think of comic culture what are the things you appreciate that exist and what do you want to see change or see more of? If anything.

I just returned from a week-long comic artist residency that Short Run facilitates, called “Trailer Blaze” (because we stay in these awesome, renovated Airstream trailers) and I can say that there’s nothing more inspiring than being with other comic artists and just talking face to face. Our group of 12 came from all over the states and 1 from Germany, 1 from UK, and yet what we all had in common was that we had devoted ourselves to comics. This common factor gets us over that awkward first hurdle (“so, what do you…do?”) when meeting someone new, and it did not take long for our group to really bond. This is what I want for the festival, for people who only ‘know’ each other from interacting online, to be in the same room, and to have a chance to talk in person. Festivals are where friendships and connections are made that way outlast the weekend! Yes, it’s a marketplace and I hope everyone makes money, but I also hope they leave with new friendships, feeling inspired by others, and knowing they are not alone.

What I’d like to see more of in comics, is variety, uniqueness, and definitely more transgression! A lot of artists are playing it safe, with styles and storytelling, and I’d like them to dare to go deeper. I mean, the fucking world is ending, what are your last words?!

Any last remarks?

I think I’ve already said too much! No one’s going to read down this far! But thank you both for the opportunity and good luck with all future Laneha House projects and endeavors!