Stalowa Wola – The City of Comis is an educational project focusing on comic art. Actions udertaken within its framework are interdisciplinary in nature, combining workshops in comic and graphic design, installations, happenings, and educational campaigns.
The project is divided into three stages: a national contest for the best short comic on a predefined subject, the selection of the 15 most successful submissions, and week-long comic workshops for the selected artists, led by professionals in the field (graphic artists, scriptwriters, and comic art theorists). Comics created during the workshops are later displayed as billboards, exhibitions, and installations around the city. This final stage is usually accompanied by educational events, meetings, film screenings and other events designed to familiarise the public with comic art and its characters. The “Young Art“ thus goes out beyond the four walls of museums, culture centres, and galleries.
The main purpose of the project is to “enchant“ the world with comic art, to create exceptional stories inspired by actual, everyday places in Stalowa Wola, and to provide an outlet for young people to spend their free time in a creative manner. It is also designed to underscore the fact that the comic book is not just a source of entertainment, as many Poles would still have it, but has a special educational and didactic value of its own.