Friends and family, artists and otaku, the 2017 KWF Sponsored Artist application cycle is now closed. With a good amount of portfolios queued up, now is a good time to get acquainted with the selection panel that will review this year's applicants.

In addition to the usual suspects on KWF's board, each year's panel is advised by a professional in a field of interest to the Foundation. Past panel judges have included art college professors and pro illustrators. This year we're assisted by film industry concept art and illustrator veteran Simon Thorpe.  Simon is a long-time friend of Kevin and KWF and we're excited to have his assistance and guidance during this year's artist selection process.

To find out more about Simon, click through after the break!

Just a quick THANK YOU on behalf of everyone at KWF to all of the amazing artists and their fans who submitted their work for consideration for our SDCC 2017 Sponsored Artist Program scholarship; the submission period for this year is now closed.

As in years past, we received an increasing number of applications covering a wide variety of styles, mediums, and subject matter.

Also as in years past, our panel of judges (including our Guest Judge, Simon Thorpe,) will have their work cut out for them: selecting a winner will doubtless prove extremely challenging.

We anticipate announcing our selection in about a month, so please stay tuned.

Thank you again for your participation and to everyone for their ongoing support of The Foundation and its mission to continue Kevin's legacy of finding inspiration at the intersection of art, science, and community!

In the evening of December 2nd and on the following day, we at KWF watched the news reports and social media feeds from our extended friend networks with alarm, sadness, grieving, and compassion. It was in Oakland, on Friday night, December 2nd that a fire erupted in an artist collective workspace known locally as "Ghost Ship" in the Fruitvale District. Many artists and attendees were present for a musical performance. Injuries and fatalities from the fire are still being tallied, but it's certain that this tragic event will be the most deadly structure fire in California since the early 1900s.

As the tragedy unfolded, we realized that we'd enjoyed the creative, communal vibe of spaces like Ghost Ship many times before, at art shows, musical performances, and at festival events on the Playa and elsewhere. And while we at KWF weren't directly touched by the tragedy, we felt a strong kinship with those who were.

As we considered this kinship, we thought about the future of creative communities and underground spaces like Ghost Ship. And our emotions turned to resolve.

We see that all forms of art outside the mainstream mass media market represent a rich tapestry of music, sculpture, performance, and exciting, emerging new media. Yet we also see that this "underground" art stands on fragile ground, pressured on all sides by commercial, economic, social, political, and bureaucratic challenges that can marginalize and isolate artistic individuals. This fragility and isolation may at times be painfully apparent on the road towards healing and recovery after Ghost Ship, but it will also represent an opportunity for underground creative communities to be better understood by their neighbors.

The U.S. lags behind most developed nations in public sector support for art projects, artists, and art education. Yet we celebrate a vibrantly capitalized market in mass media music, movies, books, and comics, and the massive revenues they generate. Artists are at the core of this creative money machine, yet the Ghost Ship tragedy shows us that they can be deeply isolated from the abundance it generates. Actor, singer, and artist Danielle Thys puts it best in an appropriately intense essay on Medium, where she points out that in the U.S., "being an artist is staggeringly more difficult than in numerous countries where artists are supported and celebrated as culture makers and shapers."

We at KWF assert that in the wake of the Ghost Ship tragedy we must strive to keep an important truth in vivid focus: Our creative communities are treasures to be supported and loved. Without them, a virtuous circle of inspiration and innovation that underpins our society is weakened for all.

With this in mind, KWF has made a donation from our 2017 operating budget to the Oakland Fire Relief Fund organized by the Gray Area Foundation for the Arts. This donation is sizeable and challenges us to do a little more hustling to make our planned 2017 program goals, but we wouldn't have it any other way.

The Ghost Ship tragedy affects us all. 

KWF's Sponsored Artist 2017 search is go for launch!

Do you know a skilled visual artist or illustrator who embodies the intersection of technology, community, and creativity? Could this person be you? Our nomination page is open for applications.

The alumni of KWF's Sponsored Artist Program are a small but highly gifted group. Each artist brought their own unique vision and passion to Comic-Con. This vision and passion is the clearest and most vibrant explanation of what we here at KWF might hope to see in a new batch of nominees for 2017. If you're interested in applying or nominating a friend, we encourage you to learn more about our previous Sponsored Artists, check out their art online, and be inspired. Our alumni have set a high bar. We expect this year's nomination pool to be even more competitive. And yet it isn't about winning and losing. Rather, it's about following your truest, most passionate self through your art. So to our creative friends out there we say this: Please share your passion with your friends, your fans, and your community. Share it with us at KWF, and we'll do our best to help you share it with the world. 

With the afterglow of Con 2016 receding in our main viewer, and new adventures approaching at Warp 9, we again open our hailing frequencies. The search for KWF's 2017 Sponsored Artist begins next week!

Each year we sponsor an artist to attend San Diego Comic-Con International, which unless you've been stuck incognito in a cave-dwelling, pre-Warp civilization, you'll recognize as the most important convention of its kind from here to the Gamma Quadrant. The Foundation's program provides a Sponsored Artist with up to two (2) 4-day badges for access to the sold out convention along with an opportunity to showcase their portfolio, sell product, and network from the KWF booth.  For more details, check out the Sponsored Artist Program overview, and be sure to read the FAQ. Keep your subspace radios listening and join our mailing list to hear the latest.

We're looking for an early-career, talented artist who could make their break at Con. Do you know this person? Could it be you? Go boldly, be creative, and be inspired. Get in touch with us.

​More to follow next week!

A few months ago, we at KWF got together for a few beers and decided to throw a fundraiser event during this year's Con. Drawing inspiration from past party events like the "Galactic Cantina Drunk Bus," (see Figure 1 above) we focus-fired our significant brainstorming weaponry in an attempt to monetize the convergence of booze, food, cosplay, art auctions, sci-fi book signings, and lightsaber combat. The result was an exquisitely crafted fundraising machine that, when analyzed by one of my close friends, a serial dot-com entrepreneur and business expert, resulted the following assessment of our likely return on investment:

"I think you guys are screwed."

But it's going to be great fun. Admission is free, with food and drink available for purchase. You should go buy a ticket, right now.

Join us at Comickaze Liberty Station, anytime 6pm - 9pm, on Wednesday, July 20th. Escape the Con crowds, or join in the fun if you didn't get a Con badge! Stop by on your way to HopCon, which is just across the way!

Help us not get screwed!

Over the last weekend in April, KWF members and supporters attended what's probably the biggest gaming convention in San Diego, Kingdom Con. (Full disclosure: One of our staff is an organizer for Kingdom Con as well!)

Kingdom-Con is a San Diego Tabletop Gaming Convention located in Mission Valley and has been going strong for the last 7 years. Starting out primarily as a Warmachine miniatures tournament, it grew into a multi faceted community gaming event, where players interested in all genres of games and clubs come together to celebrate games.

One of the best things about Kingdom-Con is that anyone can just show up and find a game to play in. Whether it's a table top miniature game, board game or RPG. It doesn't matter, if you are a player, creator, manufacturer or someone new to gaming, everyone can come and find something to do and be a part of the community. ​

Comic books and pop-art inspired education might provide a path out of poverty for San Diego's homeless youth.  The Kevin Workman Foundation has partnered with Monarch School to launch an art educational program emphasizing student-led, project-based lesson plans, creativity, and collaboration, all funded through a San Diego community grass-roots campaign.

In December, we at KWF called our supporters to action with a question: When did you first feel inspired? What would you do to ensure that young students were afforded that same opportunity for inspiration? 

The enthusiastic response, along with support from two key San Diego partners fueled a highly successful launch for the KWF Educational Program, bringing art education to some of the most at-risk and disadvantaged children in the local area.

KWF joined forces with Monarch School, a K-12 comprehensive campus that's educated San Diego's homeless youth for nearly three decades, and Little Fish Comic Book Studio, which specializes in traditional and comic book art education.

The result: A comic book art and graphic novel workshop integrated with Monarch's existing high school curriculum. The workshop course is fully funded by KWF supporters for Monarch's second 2016 trimester as a pilot program, with an option for Monarch to renew it indefinitely. As we attended the first class and watched the engagement and interest build with each student, we were humbled, we were excited, but most importantly: We were inspired. 

"Let me tell you of the days of high adventure..."

​...This invitation beckons from the portfolio of the Kevin Workman Foundation's 2016 Sponsored Artist, Candice Broersma. Selected from a highly skilled field of candidates, Candice will receive an opportunity to exhibit her work, promote, and network at San Diego Comic Con. This year's application process brought us a much larger pool of artists, all at a much higher level of accomplishment, sophistication, and talent than previous years. Candice should be proud of her selection from such a competitive range; we at KWF are thrilled to promote and sponsor such a skilled and creative illustrator, musician, and art instructor.

Take a walk with us through fantastic worlds seen through Candice's eye, where her unique vision of beauty, mystery, and quirkiness rekindles the same sense of child-like wonder we might remember from watching clouds march lazily  across the sky on the first afternoon of summer vacation.