Annual Convention

Annual Convention September 11-14, 2025

The AAEC will be joining the line-up at this year’s Small Press Expo as part of our annual convention in September 2025. Check back here later this year for registration and hotel information!

SPX website



 

CALL FOR ENTRIES: The 2023 Rex Babin Memorial Award

Deadline to enter is Friday, August 25!

The AAEC has long championed those cartoonists who work for small and local newspapers, and once again in 2023 we are looking for the best in political cartooning. The Rex Babin Memorial Award for Excellence in Local Cartooning (named after the late Sacramento cartoonist) focuses on state and local editorial cartoons, an issue of great importance to Babin during his lifetime.

While his work was syndicated nationally, Rex Babin was a strong believer in the power of editorial cartoons to have real influence at the local level. As the cartoonist for daily newspapers in two different state capitals, he saw how effective satire could sometimes be when directed at targets across the street. His unique drawing style stood out among the work of his peers, and his fellow cartoonists elected him President of the AAEC in 2009. 

“Rex Babin was one of the foremost practitioners of the local cartoon” said Jack Ohman, Babin’s long-time friend and successor to his staff position at The Sacramento Bee, “and the AAEC once again honors Rex and his work with this Award.”

This year’s judges includes previous recipients Rob Rogers, Matt Davies, and Steve Stegelin. This year’s award will be presented during the AAEC’s annual convention in San Francisco, CA, in October.

The deadline to enter is Friday, August 25, 2023.

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 

The Rex Babin Memorial Award for Excellence in Local Cartooning — Rules & Eligibility

• Any editorial cartoonist or graphic journalist who comments on or covers local, state or provincial events in the U.S., Canada or Mexico is eligible to enter; membership in the AAEC or ACC is not required. 

• Please submit ten cartoons and a 150 word statement from the artist about their work and its impact. 

• Cartoons must have been published between June 2022 and June 2023.   

• Cartoons should be in a 300dpi jpeg format, and emailed to rexbabinaward@gmail.com

• There is no entry fee.

• The judging criteria are: 

  1) Cartoons on a local or state subject that have a strong political or social impact; 

  2) Excellence in draftsmanship and ideas.

The deadline to enter is Friday, August 25, 2023.

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 

For more information on the award, contact Rob Rogers at rob@robrogers.com

News Archives

  • Categories

OUR MISSION

The mission of the AAEC is to champion and defend editorial cartooning and free speech as essential to liberty in the United States and throughout the world.

The AAEC aims to be an international leader in support of the human, civil, and artistic rights of editorial cartoonists around the world, and to stand with other international groups in support of the profession.


The Daily Cartoonist

CSotD: Bond and Circuses
CSotD: Bond and Circuses

It’s a pleasant fantasy, to imagine each bizarre, disturbing development coming along in a separate day. If it did, we could brace for it as...


LOCHER FELLOWSHIP

The AAEC John Locher Memorial Fellowship is awarded each year to one early-career cartoonist whose work demonstrates clear opinions and strong artistry on political and social topics. Deadline to be considered is the end of March.

The Locher Fellow will receive a one-year Regular membership in the AAEC, be a guest of the CXC Festival — held every fall in Columbus, Ohio —  and have the opportunity to meet with editorial cartoonists during the year of the Fellowship for portfolio reviews and career advice.


CARTOONS FOR THE CLASSROOM

Cartoons in Education

Every two weeks throughout the year, The Learning Forum and the AAEC offers CARTOONS FOR THE CLASSROOM, a free lesson resource for teachers discussing current events.  Visit NIEonline.com for more lesson plans.