Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art

The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art, often called MoCCA, began in two thousand one with a mission to validate comic and cartoon art as a respected creative field. Its founder, Lawrence Klein, envisioned a permanent space where sequential art could be studied and celebrated with the same academic rigor as fine art. While the institution operated in a dedicated SoHo storefront for over a decade, it faced constant financial challenges that made maintaining a standalone museum difficult. By two thousand twelve, the museum closed its physical doors to the public. Rather than disappearing entirely, it merged its mission and assets with the historic Society of Illustrators on East Sixty-third Street. Today, the legacy of this institution survives through a dedicated gallery space within the Society and the continued production of the MoCCA Arts Festival, which remains one of the largest independent showcases for comics and cartoonists in the country.