One of the most awesome things about being a part of Pop Culture Classroom is getting to see great creators at work. Today, we would like to put the spotlight on two of our friends who put their tremendous talents to work, both for the kids in “The Classroom” program and lending their gifts to Denver Pop Culture Con’s programming, events, and partnerships.
First up is Jay Peteranetz, who has been a familiar presence in the Pop Culture Classroom Corral at Denver Pop Culture Con, now renamed the “PCC Lab”, as well as popular events like our slightly smaller Comic Con at the Wow! Children’s Museum in Lafayette, Colorado. Jay is a Colorado native who briefly escaped the lovely landscapes of the Rockies to earn degrees in Sequential Art at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia, before being drawn (see what we did there) back to Colorado to join the ever growing comic book, art and geek community here at home.
You can enjoy Jay’s work on one of his most prominent projects, Magicians Must Die, the one and ONLY internationally distributed comic book on playing cards. In addition to his extensive work with Pop Culture Classroom, Jay also teaches Graphic Storytelling at the Community College of Aurora and foundation courses at the Art Institute of Colorado. Along with his supportive wife and four (!) kids, Jay is one of our most supportive advocates for introducing comic books and popular culture into ALL classrooms to help promote learning and literacy for all.
We are very pleased to announce that Jay has also joined the media team at Denver Pop Culture Con as a contributing artist, and is actively working on artwork for our 2015 con badges and other creative pieces that will be featured at DPCC ’15 on our merchandise, con posters, and collectible souvenir printed program.
You can look forward to seeing more of his imagery as the con approaches, and in the meantime you can check out his work at DeviantArt, his website at jnoblepeteranetz.com, and his twitter ravings at @jpeteranetz.
And now, as they say, it’s time for something completely different. Pop Culture Classroom and Denver Pop Culture Con have hooked up with super-popular local bodypainter Mythica von Griffyn to help DPCC’15 sponsor, Colorado Lottery, celebrate our collective love of…zombies. That’s right. You heard me.
A quick Google image search on “Mythica von Griffyn” will show you her spectacular body painting work at events like Denver Pop Culture Con, Starfest, and the Freakshow at the Denver County Fair. She was named Best Bodypainter by Westword in 2012, and last year she appeared on the Game Show Network’s new reality show Skin Wars. She started out working for haunted houses before branching out into bodypainting, which makes her the perfect candidate for our latest brainstorm.
Mythica has signed up to “zombify” one of the Colorado Lottery’s mascot lotto balls for that sponsor’s first Denver Pop Culture Con invasion. Look for this unique mascot at the Colorado Lottery booth during the Colorado Mammoth vs Edmonton Rush game on Friday, the 13th of February and at DPCC’15 in May.
Finally, both Jay and Mythica will be featured on the con floor during DPCC’15, so don’t delay. Visit denvercomiccon.com to buy tickets and look forward to meeting guests like Sean Astin (RUDY!), Cary Elwes (as you wish), Nichelle Nichols (hailing frequencies open), and Alan Tudyk (a leaf in the wind) as well as dynamic artists and creators like Jay and Mythica. On the flip side, keep your eyes peeled for more events at popcultureclassroom.org as we continue to build our innovative and award-winning educational programs.
Thanks for listening, true believers!
Clay Moore
Pop Culture Classroom – Writer/Contributor
www.claywriting.com