Comic City Camp 13-17 years with Comic City Kids

At Comic City Kids Camp, we believe comics and creating are for everyone! Join us and experience our comprehensive, sequential narrative program for comic-curious youths. Our exercises boost confidence, expand design knowledge, and ground participants in all aspects of comic-making. Experience is optional as we take you from ideation, scripting and tool introduction through character design and terminology on our way to self-publishing. 

Instructor: Nicole Gruszecki 
Nicole Gruszecki, a visual artist from Calgary, Alberta, taps into her horror punk DIY roots for inspiration. Currently, she creates zines (mini self-published magazines), comics, drawings and paintings to bring joy to those who engage with her work. Nicole's zines are often mini love letters to the things she engages with most, such as horror movies, music, animals and video games. Her art often has a nostalgic feel, pulling imagery from 90s patterns, 80s VHS tapes, classic science fiction and traditional comic book aesthetics. She works in various mediums, including paint, ink, markers, collages, and digital art. Nicole's aesthetic changes with each medium she uses, responding intuitively to the art material's strengths and weaknesses. 

Since graduating from AUArts, Nicole has prioritized projects that build community. She believes everyone should feel comfortable accessing the arts, including creating, viewing and collecting art and materials. Some of these communityprojects that Nicole has been involved with include Panel One Comic Society's Sketch Sessions, Little Goods Zine Clubhouse, and ART SPOT's Expresstival Arts Festival. You can find more of Nicole's art on her website, www.nicolegruszecki.com. 

Instructor: Jillian Dolan 
Jillian Dolan is a B. Des Illustration/Character Design student at Alberta University of the Arts, living in Mohkinstsis (Calgary) on Treaty 7 lands. Of Cree/Metis & Settler descent, her lineage traces to Kapawe'no First Nation and the Hebrides. Jillian began making comics while working in healthcare but made lemonade by taking the plunge and returning to school. 
Passionate about positive representation and the power of imagining better futures, Jillian chooses projects that provide new perspectives and allow for new considerations of tired tropes. She has illustrated for Coyote & Crow, the first Indigenous TTRPG to break $1 million on Kickstarter, Owl Kids magazine, and the City of Calgary, and self-publishing several comics. Her comic work centres on and creates families, minority representation, absurdism, and the potentiality of hope and hard work. Confident and competent in traditional and digital media, she has a varied practice of comics, sculpture and animation. When not in class, she can be found in AUArts Lodgepole Centre, where she is a mentor in the Aahwaatkamooksi program or at the dog park with her partner, Peter, and her puggle, Butter. Find Jillian's past and present projects at nihilistdinosaur.com.