Neosho's ArtCon celebrates crossover of pop culture, fine art

Jan. 25—NEOSHO, Mo. — As superhero crossovers are a hit in movies and on television, Neosho's upcoming 2024 ArtCon features a crossover celebrating how fine art mixes with pop culture. Genres from sci-fi to anime will come together at the yearly event.

ArtCon, presented by the Neosho Arts Council, will take place Saturday, Feb. 3, inside Neosho Junior High School, 14646 Kodiak Road. The event is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission to ArtCon is $5; children under 5 are admitted for free.

The Neosho Arts Council started ArtCon in 2019 as a celebration of the variety of fine arts used in creating popular entertainment.

"The idea behind ArtCon is to celebrate the fine arts that are in pop culture that make comics, TV and games possible," said Sarah Serio, president of the Neosho Arts Council. "A comic book is drawn by an artist; it's written by an author. Those are all fine arts. There's a lot of crossover between pop culture and fine arts."

The event grows every year, and Serio said organizers are consistently outgrowing venues. This is the third year at the Neosho Junior High, featuring an expanded floor.

Organizers project that over 1,500 people will attend ArtCon this year, not including vendors, guests and volunteers. Visitors come from the Joplin metro area and as far away as Kansas City, Oklahoma City and Branson.

"Four hours into Kansas from towns you've never heard of, they're coming in because something about the event speaks to them," Serio said.

With a full lineup for the day, highlights are the special guests attending ArtCon this year. The featured guest is actor Isaac Singleton, best known for playing Bo'sun in "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl." His credits include "Planet of the Apes," "The Mandalorian" and voicing Thanos in various Marvel series and video games.

Other guests include comic book artist and writer Ande Parks, who recently had one of his books made into the Netflix film "Extraction" with Chris Hemsworth. A first-time guest will be Kevin Mellon, an artist and director of Marvel's adult animated series "Hit-Monkey."

ArtCon also focuses on local creators, like Joplin artist and writer Jeremy Haun, a veteran of ArtCon.

"It's absolutely one of our goals to show that you can make a living as an artist, even a pop culture artist, right here in the Four States," Serio said.

Comic artists and writers Cullen Bunn, Buster Moody and the "Star Trek" writing team of Dayton Ward and Kevin Dilmore round out the guest list.

Writers and artists will be available for autographs. People can meet and purchase an autograph from Singleton as well. Throughout the day, there will be panels and discussions of the guests' work. The final panel is a live podcast recording.

Featuring the fine arts of crafting and costuming, cosplay is another crossover event for ArtCon. Cosplay is the act of dressing up as a character from a movie, book or video game. People often put a lot of effort and time into their costumes, creating elaborate looks.

Serio said ArtCon's celebration of cosplay is all about inspiring people to be creative. The event will host a cosplay contest for visitors with cash prizes. Categories are divided up into kid, teen and adult.

The judging comes down to not only the look but also how well a person can explain the work behind their costume and knowledge of their character, Serio said. Even if they're not entering the contests, visitors are encouraged to attend in costume.

"We are always blown away by the amount of work people put into their costumes," Serio said. "In this area, people are learning to sew, learning to repurpose things. They're learning how to make something look screen authentic without maybe the budget of a major Hollywood studio."

Cosplay groups the Missouri Ghostbusters, Garrison 66, Guardians of the Four States and The Salty Siren will greet visitors at ArtCon.

Games will also be a big draw at ArtCon. Organizers are planning an esports tournament of Super Smash Brothers with cash prizes. Dungeons and Dragons and Magic the Gathering will be played all day. Newcomers will be offered a helpful experience to play the games, while experienced players can compete for prizes. A selection of family-friendly games for younger visitors and more complex board games for the seasoned players will also be available.

Finally, this year's ArtCon will have an expanded vendor area with comic books, original artwork and vintage and newer action figures.

"We'll also have some indie comic book publishers on hand," Serio said. "These are comic books you're not going to find in the store. This is a special time to find a more regional, local comic book and support their work."

Proceeds from ArtCon will go to supporting the work of the Neosho Arts Council. This will benefit their programs like creating public art, continuing work on their descriptive audio tour of the murals in Neosho and free community concerts, Serio said.

More information on the event can be found at https://www.neoshoarts.net/artcon-2024.html.