WE’RE CRANKIE Festival

Be a part of starting the first Crankie Festival in Bloomington, Indiana. The festival is currently looking for artists and committee members, both of which are volunteer positions. The festival will take place in April 2026 and showcases the work of artists at any point in their artistic career. No experience is required.

A crankie is a form of storytelling using a box with dowel rods to attach and crank (turn) a scroll, usually accompanied by music or poetry with imagery on the scroll. Crankies were created in Japan as 11th-century scroll paintings. As this art form spread across the world, its form and name changed many times in the 19th century to moving panoramas. In the 1960s, Peter Schumann invented the term "cranky," leading to the current name of cranky/crankie. A scroll can be as long as the artist wants, and the box can range in size from a matchbox to as large as you can imagine. There are crankie festivals all across the world and in the US.

Every artist must make their crankie scroll, which can be any medium. AI art will not be accepted and will ban applicants from applying in the future.