Art Department Weekly started in 2009. My husband joked to his coworkers that he had written a haiku for the next issue. At the time, they were ragtag bunch who produced city and regional magazines. We created a weekly 12-page newsletter for our own entertainment.
The first time I went to New York Comic Con, I had a press pass so I could follow around cosplayers for Maxim Magazine. Both women were doing more work than simply spending the day posing with fans. Stella Chuu had a table on the Show Floor with other cosplayers selling art while Ashley Riot was in Artist Alley selling commissions and finished pieces. I was able to use the access to create a big recap for ADW.
The next year, I visited more tables and interviewed everyone from Space Wolf who was selling engraved wood posters to a makeup artist at the NYX booth. I was able to use all that reporting to turn out an even bigger issue of ADW, which is available here.
By the time all my kids had started school and I was looking for ways to get back to work, I decided I wanted to do the kind of reporting I had done on the Show Floor. I wanted to find more artists and small businesses. In my head, that could be a way to put ADW to good use. I literally published January and February, and then everything shut down.
I was still pumping out issues every two weeks on issuu.com, but there was not much to report. Catching up on all the past conventions and other work I hadn’t previously published was quite the task for 2020, though.
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