PK 126: Artistacon 2016 – What Happened at The New Art Event of The Year? Interview With Chris Kotsakis & Enrico Botta

What happened at Artistacon 2016? In this podcast interview, we catch up with the guys behind the most exciting new art event of the year

Subscribe to the Pencil Kings Podcast: | iTunes | Stitcher

“I think in the field of art and writing, you really need to learn to communicate. You need to not only be able to express yourself in your art, but express yourself verbally and be able to hold your own in conversation.”

~ Chris Kotsakis

Artistason 2016 was one of the most exciting new art events of the year.

The event, held in Burlington, New Jersey, in September 2016, was dedicated to celebrating and encouraging creativity.

Featuring workshops, educational symposiums, portfolio reviews, demonstrations and displays from leading artists and writers, this unique event gave aspiring artists a chance to engage like never before.

And, in this week’s podcast interview, we get the inside story on Artistacon 2016 from its founders, Chris Kotsakis and Enrico Botta and hear about their exciting plans for 2017…

Artistacon 2016 – The Inside Story

01:40 – 15:04

What was Artistacon all about?

Artistacon 2016 was the launch year for this new art event, and organizers Chris and Enrico were pleased to see it was well attended.

James, a Pencil Kings member, went along and loved it so much he even took his family!

In this part of the interview, Chris and Enrico explain what it was all about and the response they got from visitors and the artists who took part.

15:15 – 30:05

How were Chris and Enrico able to put together such a successful event?

Artistacon 2016 was a huge success, but like any event, it took a tight team of people and a whole lot of organization to keep things running smoothly and ensure everyone was happy.

During the event, artists such as Mark Poulton, Chris Ivy, Mike Capprotti and many more shared their knowledge of the creative industry and demonstrated their work process.

There were also guests of honour, including David Palumbo, Carl Potts, Mark Morales, and Bob McLeod.

Visitors to Artistacon 2016 were able to not only meet these celebrated artists, but also had a rare opportunity to learn from them and pick up some tips from their extensive careers in the creative industry.

Naturally, there were a few glitches here and there, but the event ran incredibly smoothly – something Chris and Enrico attribute to the enthusiasm of everyone who took part and the strong team behind it.

30:15 – 36:54

How can attending an art event help your creative career?

Although Artistacon 2016 was well attended, Chris says he still heard from several people who didn’t make it but wish they had.

So how can attending an art event like this actually help further your creative career?

As he and Enrico explain, getting out there and going to events is just the start…because changing your mindset and learning how to tell your story to others is one of the single most important decisions you can make as an artist.We hope you enjoyed hearing about Artistacon 2016 and we can’t wait to see what next year’s event has in store!

Did you go? Or do you know someone else who did? Let us know what you thought in the comment box below – we’d love to hear from you 🙂

People on this Episode:

Links From This Episode:

Artists Mentioned in This Episode:

Subscribe via iTunes.
Listen on Stitcher Radio.
Android users can grab our RSS feed here.
Right-click and “save file as” for direct download.

Thanks for listening to our show! We’ll be back next Wednesday morning 8AM EST.

Cheers,

Mitch

PS, there is also Pencil Kings content on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.

2 thoughts on “PK 126: Artistacon 2016 – What Happened at The New Art Event of The Year? Interview With Chris Kotsakis & Enrico Botta”

  1. My wife and I were invited to attend Artstacon by our friend James Cornette. Unfortunately, we only caught the last few hours of it on the last day but it was very inspirational. We had a great time connecting with some of these great artists and discussing different mediums and learning more about the industry. I felt reinvigorated artistically afterwords. Unbeknownst to me, a customer of mine and new friend,Matt Dalton was already there, explaining some of the ins and outs of inking comic book panels during a Q&A. Conducted by Chris Kotsakis. The arrangement of the event was well planned and executed. Great time! Can’t wait for the next one.

    1. Hi William, thanks for getting in touch! I’m really glad you had a great time at Artistacon – it sounds like an awesome event 🙂 If I lived in the US, I would definitely be checking it out next year!

Comments are closed.