Wacom makes technology for creating digital art, but that doesn't mean we don't also support art communities in real life! One of the most incredible things about art is the community aspect – it brings people together, both online and in real life.
Wacom makes an effort all year to sponsor and/or support community events across the world! Here are some of the events we showed up at in the United States this past quarter:
BCON Austin
BCON Austin, the official North American Blender Conference, took place on April 13–14, 2026, in downtown Austin, Texas. The creator-driven event featured workshops, industry speakers, and networking for the 3D design community.
Highlighting the ease of use and benefits of drawing and sculpting with a stylus, the team showcased the new Cintiq alongside the MovinkPad Pro. With updated features like the grease pencil and pent tool, 3D artists are leveling up their workflow with Wacom and Blender.
AfroAnimation Conference
For the third year in a row, Wacom has acted as a key sponsor and supporter for AfroAnimation Conference and their Storyboard Challenge. The four-day conference brings together key players, creators, and innovators in the animation industry sharing their experience and expertise with aspiring animators.
The Wacom storyboard challenge placed 20+ artists against each other in a 3 round contest focusing on the basics of storyboarding and tasking each artist with creating a 6 panel storyboard on pre-selected prompts. The challengers created their storyboards using the new Cintiq 16 in tandem with Toon Boom Storyboard Pro software.
CROP Con
Hitting our 10th year of partnership and collaboration, the Wacom Community team headed back to Austin to support CROPCon – a boutique conference that pulls in the heavy hitters and rock stars of the Graphic Design world.
The newest and coolest tools to share with this community were the Movink 13 and MovinkPad Pro. In tandem with programs like Clip Studio Paint, Sketchbook, and Concepts app, the MovinkPad Pro is quickly becoming a new favorite amongst this design community.
The highlight of the weekend was the infamous CROP Lettering challenge. 2026 was the second year for the challenge being fully digital. Four artists are chosen, each are given a specific letter (C, R, O, P) – and they’re given an hour to create the craziest, loudest, and most insane designed letter. While attendees watch, the artists are put to the test – with their work shared on monitors throughout the venue.
At the end, one winner is chosen – and bragging rights are given. The 2026 lettering challenge winner was Killian McMann, founder of Great Raven Design Co!
The Drawing Club
We couldn’t go too long without pulling together our community for a fun, in person, drink and draw and trivia night. Partnering with local community cultivators, the Drawing Club, we put out the call to all LA-based creatives to join us for a fun – and packed – evening celebrating all things creativity, and of course of love for Wacom. Alongside our good friends at Toon Boom, three lucky winners went home with their own Movink 13s as well as licenses for Toon Boom software.
Drawing Club LA is a 15 year old organization centered on bringing together the creative community for casual yet impactful skill building drawing sessions, film screenings, and other creative activities.
Silverlake Shorts
Staying close to our LA creative community, we started May with a film screening hosted by non-profit org Silver Lake Shorts. Silver Lake Shorts is a Los Angeles-based monthly short film screening series and 501(c)3 non-profit championing Los Angeles based filmmakers, animators and comedians.
In addition to free monthly screenings, they run a fellowship program that awards grants to independent filmmakers within our community. Our support directly impacts their grant program and allows independent creators the resources and funding to work on their animated and film projects.
