AAEC 2026 Convention Awards and a Coming Change (or Two)
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An Association of Political Artists
The Association of American Editorial Cartoonists 2026 convention is winding up today with a meet and greet at the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento as part of CrockerCon.
Saturday night the cartoonists gathered at the Sacramento History Museum for the “Awards Reception.”
Graeme MacKay won “The Rex Babin Memorial Award for Excellence in Local Cartooning” for 2026. The finalists were Phil Hands, Steve Greenberg, and Marlin Lavanhar.
Clay Jones received The Ink Bottle “for dedication to the spirit of our profession.”
Some commentary on the convention from various Facebook accounts.
Lavanhar posted a photo of The Rex Babin finalists with The Ink Bottle recipient on his Facebook page with some notes on the Rex Babin winner and finalists.
Maryellen Burns who helped organize many of the events has a report on Friday and Saturday functions.
No information on the “John Locher Memorial Fellowship” being given out this year.
A Change is Gonna Come
It was learned this weekend that Steve Brodner will be the organization’s president for the 2026 year.
Aside: I don’t remember if we ever posted the AAEC Board for this year. So…
2025 Officers and Board of Directors
President: Marc Murphy, Louisville Courier Journal
Vice President: John Auchter, Michigan Public Radio
Secretary-Treasurer: Monte Wolverton, Cagle Cartoons
Director: Clay Jones, Claytoonz (2nd year)
Director: Paul Tarr, Rattoons, Crooksandliars.com (2nd year)
Director: Steve Stegelin, Charleston City Paper (1st year)
Director: Alexandra Bowman, Cagle Cartoons (1st year)
Past President: Jack Ohman, The San Francisco Chronicle
International Advisor: Patrick Chappatte, freelance
Minister of Information: Kevin Necessary
General Manager: Kelsey Maher
But Angelo Lopez revealed the biggest news coming from the convention.
There was a reason I didn’t refer to incoming president Brodner as an AAEC president, as Lopez explains:
“During the afternoon, group president Marc Murphy lead a discussion on whether our group should change our names to the Association of Political Artists as a way to attract younger members. We have found that many younger people who create political art have no idea what an editorial cartoonist is. With editorial cartoonists shrinking in number, we hope to enlarge the membership of our group by including graphic novelists, poster artists, and other artists who use the visual medium to create political satire.”
And so…
“After a healthy debate, the group voted for the name change. We also voted that our group would become an adjunct to the Society of Illustrators (https://societyillustrators.org/) to stabilize our group membership.”
The Association of American Editorial Cartoonists will soon be known as the Association of Political Artists!
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