Guest artist and Niles North alumni, Vincent Kao, will be visiting the school during art club on March 8, from 3:45 pm to 4:15 pm, at room 1685.

Kao is a Taiwanese-American illustrator who is best known for his contributions and compiling of several anthology books as well as his two webcomics.

One is Mondo Mango, his semi-autobiographical slice-of-life comedy series about him tackling life panel by panel. It can be found on Tapas, Webtoon, and Instagram.

The other is Prism Award-winning series Magical Boy, a YA graphic novel series about a trans-male teenager named Max who is suddenly given the powers of a magical girl. It can be found exclusively on Tapas and you can buy a print version online.

Art teacher Melissa Connell expressed her opinion on the event.

“I hope that we have a lot of art students that come and hear from him and feel inspired by his work but also you can have a career in the arts,” Connell said. “I would say the concept of the starving artist, or the idea that you can’t make money in the arts, isn’t true. Sure it takes a lot of hustle, but that’s true of any career.”

One Niles North senior shared his opinions as well.

“Well to me, it’s always interesting for an established figure in a creative field to talk about their experiences and give advice on how we as students can improve our skills in said field (if students are actively looking for that advice),” Mirel Sierra said. “So I think people would like it for varying reasons.”

Meanwhile, Kao himself also provided his perspective on the upcoming presentation.

“I hope it inspires them, that yes, this career path is really possible,” Kao said. “And here are some ways to do so.”

If you would like to learn more about Vincent Kao’s work, please make sure to find his portfolio at http://thekao.net, which includes his social media pages.