The Organizers

Peggy Twardowski, Executive Director
Peggy Twardowski is the wife of comic artist, Sean Wang. Living in the Northampton, MA, area and through Sean’s connections in the comic, cartoon, and book illustration worlds was exposed to an amazing pool of talent from Western New England. To her amazement, she found there is no show to celebrate this talent in her backyard, and so she decided to make one happen. She is the research director for Digital Development Management (DDM), the world’s leading agency for video games and digital entertainment.

Michael Dow, Deputy Director
Michael Dow grew up in Massachusetts with a passion for comics and role playing games. He used to work for the Comic Book Legal Defense fund, but quit to go to grad school. In 2005, he earned an MA in the history of science … and promptly went to work full-time at Modern Myths in Northampton selling comics and games, where he remains to this day. For Paint & Pixel, Michael is lining up the fabulous featured guests and creating the event’s programming.

Colin Panetta, Education Coordinator
After growing up in upstate New York, Colin has lived in Western Massachusetts for over two years. He designs websites and wins tricycling awards for left-click, a local computer repair, retail, and web development company. His comics have received positive reviews from The Comics Reporter, Broken Frontier, and The Comics Journal. He exhibits at shows and posts online as a part of Western Massachusetts-based comic book group Mysterious Transmissions. You can see the rest of his illustration and writing work at ColinPanetta.com. Colin also served as the Outreach and Education Coordinator for the Sarasota Film Festival for three years. As the Education Coordinator for Paint & Pixel, Colin will be facilitating the involvement of area educational institutions with the event. If you know a local school that would be interested in involving their students in the area’s biggest illustration and comics show, drop him a line at education@paintandpixelfestival.com!