Hello from the founders of the Comics Advocacy Group, and welcome to the sixth installment in our series highlighting the thirty recipients of our inaugural CAG Mini Grant! You can find previous posts here. Thank you again for your support, and please look forward to our future endeavors!
SJ Miller
SJ Miller is an illustrator and cartoonist interested in horror and fantasy. They’ve worked in the industry as a color artist and have self published short comics online. Their debut graphic novel, Mage and the Endless Unknown, was published in 2023.
For more information, and to follow SJ, visit https://sjmillerart.com/.
Summer Pierre
Summer Pierre is the author of the Eisner nominated graphic memoir All the Sad Songs (Big Planet/Retrofit). Her work has appeared at newyorker.com, The New York Times, and New City among other places. She lives in The Hudson Valley of New York.
For more information, and to follow Summer, visit www.summer-pierre.com.
Tato Lu
Tato is an artist based in Los Angeles. His comics and illustrations center around misfits and odd creatures. He draws inspiration from Saturday morning cartoons, video games, films, anime, slapstick manga, and his general experience growing up as a Chinese-American kid in the 90s.
For more information, and to follow Tato’s work, visit https://www.instagram.com/tomatatoro/.
Taylor Tai
Taylor Tai is an early childhood educator in Philadelphia dedicated to helping kids grow in an unjust world through resistance and community care. She creates tiny crafts in her free time, from fiber arts and natural dyes to bookbinding and illustration. Her next project will be a comic series exploring mental health; you can stay updated on recent work via Instagram or at local art markets.
For more information, and to follow Taylor, visit http://www.taylortai.com/handmade-books.html.
Go Press Girl!
Go Press Girl! is a new comics micropress with a focus on community and artmaking as a gift-giving practice. They’re dedicated to publishing eccentric, fanciful, and experimental stories that wouldn’t get to exist otherwise. GPG! is run by cartoonists Rachel Bivens and Violet Kitchen, and based in White River Junction, VT on unceded Abenaki land.
For more information, and to follow Go Press Girl!, visit https://www.gopressgirl.ink/.
More About the CAG Mini Grant
The CAG Mini Grant provides small, unrestricted funding to comic creators who reside within the United States and are in need of additional resources. As the cost of food and rent are growing prohibitive, many creators find themselves taking on additional work with time they do not have in order to make ends meet. Our goal in offering this $500 mutual aid grant is to give cartoonists some time and space to work on the projects most important to them.
This launch effort was made possible by many wonderful donors. If you would like to contribute to our future grants and other initiatives, please consider making a tax-deductible donation (or setting up a recurring donation) – or let us know if you’d be interested in sharing your expertise as an in-kind contribution!
If you would like to receive updates from the Comics Advocacy Group, please follow us on social media (twitter, bluesky) and we’ll let you know the moment we have our newsletter up and running. We are a young nonprofit, and your support makes all the difference. Thank you!!
