Events

City Reliquary Member Tour: “We Tried to Warn You! Environmental Crisis Posters, 1970–2020” at Poster House


Tuesday, October 24, at 6 p.m.
Open to all City Reliquary members

City Reliquary Members are invited to a tour of We Tried to Warn You! Environmental Crisis Posters, 1970–2020 at Poster House led by exhibiton curator Tim Medland. Poster House is located at 119 W. 23rd Street between 6th and 7th Avenues.

Not a City Reliquary member? Join today and email [email protected] to request the tour registration link.

This show charts a global history of environmental activism through posters, ranging in style from whimsical to apocalyptic. Works on display include designs by Milton Glaser, Peter Max, and Robert Rauschenberg.

Almost all of the environmental issues showcased in these posters remain or have worsened. Nevertheless, these images have shaped public debates on environmental issues, drawing attention to distinct and particular concerns.

More details about the show may be found at https://posterhouse.org/exhibition/we-tried-to-warn-you-environmental-crisis-posters-1970-2020.

Tim Medland is an independent curator who focuses on the history of visual and material culture. He holds an MA in Museum Studies from the University of Leicester, with a concentration in socially engaged practice. His research interests include environmental activism and sustainability, and the histories of transport, propaganda, colonialism, and migration.

About Poster House

Poster House is dedicated to presenting the impact, culture, and design of posters, both as historical documents and methods of contemporary visual communication.

Through temporary exhibitions, a growing permanent collection, and educational events, Poster House explores the enormous impact of posters on society and culture, and how they have been adapted to contemporary use. As the first poster museum in the United States, Poster House provides a space for inquiry for all those interested in design, advertising, and public interventions, with an aim to improve design literacy among the general public.

Masquerade: A Comix & Animation Showcase

Saturday, Oct. 7, at 6 p.m. (show at 7)
$10 general admission/free for City Reliquary members

Join us for a night of original comics readings and animation from local artists. We’re kicking off spooky season, so come wearing your Halloween best!

Readings by:
Oliver Nicole
Annabelle Heckler
Samuel Edme
Graham Millar

Animation by:
Amelia Johnson
John Quinn
Emily Zullo
Shane Cagney
Cam MacConnell
Kelly Emmrich
Cecily Russo
Isa Fraga-Abaza
Kitt Matthews
Alfred Thomas
Jack Henry-Lee

Carousel: Comics Performances and Pictures Shows

Thursday, September 28, at 7:30 p.m. (show at 8)
Pre-Sale $10; Day-Of $12, Free for City Reliquary members

AN OFFICIAL 2023 BROOKLYN BOOK FESTIVAL BOOKEND EVENT

Presentations of graphic novels, gag cartoons, and comics as performed by the writers and artists, with slide projections. This program will be followed by a book signing.

FEATURING
Grayson Bear (Pokey)
Alex Krokus (Loudest and Smartest) 
Amy Kurzweil (Artificial: A Love Story)
Mattie Lubchansky (Boys Weekend)   
Kimberly Wang (Of Thunder & Lightning)
Julia Wertz (Impossible People) 

Hosted by R. Sikoryak

 ARTIST BIOS: 

Grayson Bear is an Ignatz-nominated cartoonist from a smelly fishing town on the Oregon Coast. Now they make comics in New York and their life is just like Sex and the City. They’re currently working on their first graphic novel, Superfun,to be released with Fantagraphics whenever they finally finish it. Their latest book is Business Insider, published by Frog Farm. Instagram: @grayson_bear

Alex Krokus is Loud & Smart and a big, fat collection of his comics was published by Silver Sprocket in late 2022. His first graphic novel will be released with Chronicle Books in 2025. Instagram: @alexkrokus

Amy Kurzweil is a New Yorker cartoonist and the author of Flying Couch: A Graphic Memoir and Artificial: A Love Story. She was a 2021 Berlin Prize Fellow, a 2019 Shearing Fellow, and has received fellowships from MacDowell, Djerassi, and elsewhere. She has been nominated for a Reuben Award and an Ignatz Award for “Technofeelia,” her four part series with The Believer Magazine. Her writing, comics, and cartoons have also been published in The Verge, The New York Times Book Review, Longreads, Literary Hub, WIRED and many other places. Learn more at amykurzweil.com. Instagram: @amykurzweil

Mattie Lubchansky is a cartoonist and illustrator living in beautiful Queens, New York. They are the Associate Editor and contributor to the Eisner- and Ignatz-winning publication The Nib. They are a Herblock prize finalist, author of The Antifa Super-Soldier Cookbook (Silver Sprocket), and a co-editor and contributor to the anthology Flash Forward (Abrams). Their debut full-length graphic novel Boys Weekend is out now from Pantheon. Instagram: @mattielubchansky

Kimberly Wang is a queer Chinese-American illustrator and cartoonist based in New York. They love genre mish-mashes, the saccharine, the edgy, and the surreal. They are the creator of the sci-fi graphic novel Of Thunder and Lightning, published in 2023 with Silver Sprocket. Instagram: @kmbrlei

Julia Wertz is a professional cartoonist, amateur historian, and part-time urban explorer. Her books include The Fart Party, Museum of Mistakes, Drinking at the Movies, The Infinite Wait and Other Stories, and Tenements, Towers, & Trash: An Unconventional, Illustrated History of New York City. She does monthly comics and doodles for The New Yorker and The New York Times. Her most recent work is Impossible People. Instagram: @juliajwertz

R. Sikoryak is a cartoonist (Constitution Illustrated, Terms and Conditions, and The Unquotable Trump) and the host of Carousel. He illustrated the comic books that appear in the new novel by Tom Hanks, The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece. www.rsikoryak.com Instagram: @rsikoryak 

The New Voices of Arab American Literature

Friday, September 29, 7 pm
This event will be held on Zoom.
Admission: Free, but please RSVP


THIS IS AN OFFICIAL 2023 BROOKLYN BOOK FESTIVAL BOOKEND EVENT

Worker-owned independent publisher Radix Media is proud to bring together a multidisciplinary gathering of Arab American authors for an illuminating, freewheeling panel at the City Reliquary Museum.

In the contentious battleground of political America, Arab American writers have strived to drown out divisive rhetoric through compelling, evocative portraits of life in the Arab world, diasporic ache, and subversion of embedded stereotypes. We meet with five Arab American writers to learn the narratives that guide their work, how they write and recollect in America, and the place Arab American literature occupies in the larger literary zeitgeist.

Featuring authors Andrea Abi-Karam, George Abraham, Sarah Aziza, Zein El-Amine, and Hazeh Fahmy. Poet and author Ghinwa Jawhari will moderate the event.

Artist Bios:

ANDREA ABI-KARAM is a trans, arab-american punk poet-performer cyborg. They are the author of EXTRATRANSMISSION (Kelsey Street Press, 2019) and with Kay Gabriel, they co-edited We Want It All: An Anthology of Radical Trans Poetics (Nightboat Books, 2020). Their second book, Villainy (Nightboat Books, Sept 2021) reimagines militant collectivity in the wake of the Ghost Ship Fire and the Muslim Ban. They are currently working on a poet’s novel.

George Abraham (they/هو) is a Palestinian American poet. Their debut poetry collection Birthright (Button Poetry, 2020) won the Arab American Book Award and was a Lambda Literary Award finalist. They are currently executive editor for Mizna, and are a recipient of fellowships from Kundiman, The Arab American National Museum, Sewanee Writers’ Conference, National Performance Network, and more. They are currently co-editing a Palestinian global anglophone poetry anthology with Noor Hindi (Haymarket Books, 2024) and are a Litowitz MFA+MA candidate at Northwestern University.

Sarah Aziza is a Palestinian American writer who splits her time between New York City and the Middle East. She has lived and worked in Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Jordan, South Africa, and the West Bank, in addition to the United States. Her journalism, poetry, essays, and experimental nonfiction have appeared in The New Yorker, The Baffler, Harper’s Magazine, The New York Times, The Atlantic, Lux Magazine, The Intercept, The Rumpus, NPR, Washington Post, and The Nation, among others. Previously a Fulbright fellow in Jordan, she is the recipient of numerous Pulitzer Center grants for Crisis Reporting, a 2022 resident at Tin House Writer’s Workshop, and a 2023 Margins Fellow at the Asian American Writers Workshop.

Zein El-Amine is a Lebanese-born poet and writer. He has an MFA in Poetry from the University of Maryland. His poems have appeared in Wild River Review, Folio, Beltway Quarterly, Foreign Policy In Focus, CityLit, and others. His latest poetry manuscript A Travel Guide for the Exiled was recently shortlisted for the Bergman Prize, judged by Louise Glück. His short stories have appeared in the Uno Mas, Jadaliyya, Middle East Report, Wild River Review, About Place Journal, and in Bound Off. His debut short story collection, Is This How You Eat a Watermelon? was published by Radix Media and was a longlist for the PEN Awards Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Short Fiction.

Hazem Fahmy is a writer and critic from Cairo. A PhD student in Middle Eastern Studies at Columbia University, he runs the literary newsletter wust el-balad, on Substack. His latest chapbook, At the Gates, was published by the African Poetry Book Fund/Akashic Books as part of the 2023 edition of the New Generation African Poets series. His debut chapbook, Red//Jild//Prayer won the 2017 Diode Editions Contest, and his second, Waiting for Frank Ocean in Cairo was published in 2022 by Half-Mystic Press. A Kundiman and Watering Hole Fellow, his writing has appeared, or is forthcoming in The Best American Poetry 2020, The Boston Review, Prairie Schooner, Mubi Notebook, Reverse Shot, and Mizna.

Ghinwa Jawhari is a Lebanese American writer based in Brooklyn, NY. Her debut chapbook BINT (2021) was selected for Radix Media’s Own Voices Chapbook Prize. A recipient of fellowships from Kundiman and the Asian American Writers’ Workshop, she is the founding editor of Koukash Review. Her essays, fiction, and poetry appear in Catapult, Mizna, The Adroit Journal, Rusted Radishes, The Margins, Narrative, and elsewhere. More at ghinwajawhari.com / IG @bbghanouj

KICKAPOO: A Burlesque Tribute to Tenacious D

Friday, September 15 at 8 pm (show at 8:30)
Admission: $20 General (Free for City Reliquary members)


The Last Chance Dancers blur the line between artifice and authenticity with THE PICK OF DESTINY by TENACIOUS D, played live on vinyl.

The Last Chance Dancers are: Queensiñera, Esmé, Xaddy Addy, Maggie McMuffin, and Venatrix. Plus, One Night Only special guest BOBBY FISHNETS and the return of our original pressing, KITA ST CYR.

It’s also Kita’s birthday! Bring her savory snacks, shiny things, and good tequila.

This is a real burlesque show, with professional burlesque dancers. Anyone is welcome, but please note there will be sexually explicit performance, nudity, and language.

ACCESSIBILITY & SAFETY

This is an outdoor show with mixed seating and standing room. Entry from sidewalk through the museum is wheelchair accessible, but to get outdoors is four steps up and down. The backyard is largely uneven, but you are welcome to watch the show from the flat paved area.

Other accommodation needs or questions? Email [email protected] and we’ll work it out.

Junk Craft Night

Friday, Sept 1 at 7 pm
Admission: $10 advance/$12 door (Free for City Reliquary members)

Turn junk into something beautiful! The City Reliquary will supply all kinds of junk materials to be shaped by your creativity. At the end of the night, participants will have the opportunity to present their work and swap with each other.

Thanks to our friends at Materials for the Arts for providing the materials for our arts!

Carousel: Comics Performances

Friday, August 25 Rescheduled to Sunday, September 17 at 7:30 p.m. (show at 8)
Admission: $10 in advance; $12 at door (Free for City Reliquary members)

Carousel returns with comics readings and projections (and some live music) from cartoonists, graphic novelists, and other artists. Hosted by R. Sikoryak. The show will be followed by a book signing.

Featuring
Jacob Halton
Yinfan Huang
Arielle Jovellanos and Julia Riew
Jeffrey Lewis
Jason Little
and more!

Artist Bios:

Jacob Halton is a background designer and comic artist who loves making trippy stories and cyberpunk art. Find more of his work at jacobhalton.com. Instagram @jacobhalton

Born and raised in China, Yinfan Huang is a NY-based illustrator and cartoonist who creates joyful, whimsical work for children’s books, magazines, brands, and institutions around the world. She is the first Asian cartoonist published in The New Yorker in print without growing up in the West. She is the illustrator of the children’s book The Couch Potato and is working on her first graphic memoir, Yellow Singing Sail. yinfanhuang.com, Instagram @yinfanhuang and @infuncomic

Arielle Jovellanos is a Filipina-American freelance illustrator, comic artist, and writer. Recent works include Girl Taking Over: A Lois Lane Story (DC), Evil Thing: A Villains Graphic Novel (Disney-Hyperion), and Black Star (Abrams Megascope). She would like a cat. Instagram @joviellety

Julia Riew is a composer-lyricist and writer from Missouri. She is best known for Dive (AKA: “The Korean Disney Princess Musical”) which is currently being developed into a stage musical with Tony-Award winning director Diane Paulus and GLAAD-Award winning playwright Diana Son for the American Repertory Theater after amassing over 130k followers and 3 million likes worldwide. Instagram @juliariew

Jeffrey Lewis is best known for albums of folk and rock music, but he also makes comic books, including a self-published series called Fuff, and has worked on projects with organizations such as the History Channel and The New York Times.  Instagram: @jeffreylewisband

Jason Little is the author of the forthcoming Polly & Molly, a graphic novel about love, family, the space-time continuum, and genitalia. His previous books include Borb, a hilarious daily strip collection about atragically alcoholic homeless man, and Jack’s Luck Runs Out, a story set in Las Vegas and told with playing card characters. Instagram @beecomix

R. Sikoryak is a cartoonist (Constitution Illustrated, Terms and Conditions, and The Unquotable Trump) and the host of Carousel. He illustrated the comic books that appear in the new novel by Tom Hanks, The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece.  www.rsikoryak.com Instagram: @rsikoryak 

The Last Chance Dancers Present “Disco”: A Burlesque Tribute to Saturday Night Fever

Friday, August 18 at 8 pm (show starts at 8:30 sharp)
$20 general admission, free for City Reliquary members

The Last Chance Dancers continue their leftist stripper agenda with their very first soundtrack show: SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER, played live on vinyl.

No breaks. No mercy. Just raw emotion and bare flesh. Anything could happen. Bring tributes to the record player and hope it spares us.

The Last Chance Dancers are: Queensiñera, Esmé, Xaddy Addy, Maggie McMuffin, and Venatrix. Plus One Night Only guests VERA SAFIRE and SUSIE DAHL

HEADS UP: BUTTS OUT
This is a real burlesque show, with professional burlesque dancers. Anyone is welcome, but please note there will be sexually explicit performance, nudity, and language.

ACCESSIBILITY & SAFETY
Mixed seating & standing room. Entry from sidewalk through museum is wheelchair accessible, but to get outdoors is 4 steps up and down. Backyard is uneven, but you are welcome to watch from the flat paved area.
Other accommodation needs or questions? Email [email protected] and we’ll work it out.

Carousel Comics Performances and Picture Shows

Wednesday, July 19 at 7:30 pm (show at 8)

Carousel, the live comics performance series, returns with readings, projections, and live music from cartoonists, graphic novelists, visual artists, and musicians. Hosted by R. Sikoryak. This event will be followed by a book signing.

Tickets on sale now ($10 advance/$12 at door)

FEATURING:
Leela Corman and Thalia Zedek
Marcellus Hall
Sabrina Jones
Ellen Lindner
Elizabeth Trembley
Kriota Willberg

ARTIST AND HOST BIOS
Leela Corman is a painter, cartoonist, and educator. Her latest short story collection You Are Not A Guest comes out this summer from Fieldmouse Press, and her next graphic novel, Victory Parade, will be published by Schocken Books in Spring 2024. She is honored to collaborate with Thalia, whose music has been in heavy rotation in her life since the 1990s. Instagram: @leelacorman

Thalia Zedek has been a performing/recording artist since the 1980’s with bands such as Live Skull, Come, E, Uzi, and Dangerous Birds, as well as releasing numerous solo records on the Thrill Jockey label. Her collaboration with Leela Corman began in the summer of 2022 with a commissioned work for the SPX Convention and she’s thrilled to continue performing with Leela in this new medium. Instagram: @thaliazedek

Marcellus Hall is a longtime New York illustrator and musician. He has songs, record albums, children’s books, magazine covers, and comics to his credit. Instagram: @marcellus_hall

Sabrina Jones has created graphic biographies of Isadora Duncan, Margaret Sanger, Jane Jacobs, FDR, and Jesus. Her latest comics are in My Body/Our Rights, the 53rd issue of World War 3 Illustrated. Instagram: @sabjonze

Ellen Lindner is a cartoonist, illustrator, editor, and occasional educator, living in Upper Manhattan. Her illustration clients have included McGraw-Hill, Dotdash Meredith, Workman, Bloomsbury, and the City of New York, and her comics have been seen on MoMA.orgMedium.com, The Washington Post, and in many anthologies and collections. Ellen is the author of two graphic novels and is working on Lost Diamonds, a comics study of gender rebellion in baseball. Her comics are now on view in “Lost Diamonds” at Principles GI Coffeehouse in Gowanus, Brooklyn, until August 4th. Instagram: @ellenlindna

Elizabeth Trembley, Ph.D, is the author of the graphic memoir Look Again (Street Noise, 2022), which was shortlisted for the Graphic Medicine International Collective Award and the award for Excellence in Graphic Literature for Adult Nonfiction. She is also a Lambda Literary Award-winning mystery novelist and a storytelling teacher of more than three decades. She lives on ten wooded acres near the shores of Lake Michigan with her Episcopal priest wife, two dogs, and two cats. One of her most prized possessions is an autographed photo of Adam West. Instagram: @elizabeth_trembley

Kriota Willberg is a retired massage therapist and active cartoonist. She’s best known for Draw Stronger: Self-Care for Cartoonists and Visual Artists (Uncivilized Books). Her comic Silver Wire was nominated for a 2019 Ignatz Award. Once the inaugural Artist In Residence at the New York Academy of Medicine Library, she’s now the AIR in Humanistic Medicine Program at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. Instagram: @kriotawillberg

R. Sikoryak is a cartoonist (Constitution Illustrated, Terms and Conditions, and The Unquotable Trump) and the host of Carousel. He illustrated the comic books that appear in the new novel by Tom Hanks, The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece. Instagram: @rsikoryak

Goodie Bag Animation Showcase

Friday, July 20, at 6:30 pm (show at 7) *rescheduled from July 14*

A showcase of thesis films by animation BFA students from the School of Visual Arts and Pratt Institute. Genres range from experimental to horror to sci-fi to comedy.

Tickets on sale now

Featuring films by:

Amelia Johnson

Cam MacConnell

Brooke Burnett

Anna Gaetjen

Kasia Lewis

Janet Mah

Adrien Rolley

Dave Wolfe

and more!