ANNOUNCEMENT sadly after 29 years of attending the Pittsburgh area Comic Cons and decades at the Steel City Con meeting and greeting my fans and collectors I am being denied the ability to attend future shows by the health dept and Governors edicts. I am being denied the ability to attend this an other shows and make a living as I have done for a 40 plus year career as a self employed artist attending shows.
I will be UNABLE to attend future shows until the Health dept discriminatory mask rules forcing asthmatics like myself to AT ALL TIMES, ALL DAY wear a mask, while at my table is stopped. I could have done so for a brief period of time IE: when walking to the bathroom or within close frontal proximity to anyone within 6', but NOT when I am behind a table and 6' set back from the front of a table.
I spoke to the promoter today on the phone and had a frank and crystal clear conversation about my "medical" life long severe asthma and inability to survive wearing what is for me a restrictive breathing mask at all times at my table. He said "he can't make any arrangement or exception for me with out risking his show being closed down" AND HE IS CORRECT. Thanks to these government mandates and county officials who imposed this discriminatory mandate upon me I will be unable to attend this or any show that imposes these discriminatory mandates.
I thought if social distance could be achieved in lieu of masks (after all my sitting back at a table is no less than 6 feet from the front of my tables at this event easily) I could have attended, again, it was not an option.
The promoter (NOT AT FAULT HERE and between a rock and a hard place) suggested FACE SHIELD or as I like to call it "that fogs up my glasses", feels claustrophobic, prevents me because it creates a glare etc from drawing or demonstrating properly, and is NOT conducive to drawings at a table for me and my vision.
As for the below the chin spit troughs its unhealthy and anti hygienic to say the least, NO I can NOT do my artistic drawing job with such contraptions on my head nor should anyone be forced to or denied the ability to make a living unless they wear these contraptions.
So the battle begins, time to reach out to the ADA and legislators across the country in support of an assault on anti discriminatory practices like this that prohibit vendors, musicians and artists like myself who have reasons from the Constitutional freedom and liberty to continue to make a living as a self employed sub contractor at these venues that I have attended without issue for decades.
This is what classic discrimination and denial of right to work and make a living looks like folks.