The board of the National Cartoonists Society Foundation is pleased to announce the winner of the 2026 Jay Kennedy Memorial Scholarship: Victoria Berrocales. Victoria was chosen from a field of talented applicants to receive this honor and a $5,000 scholarship grant.
Victoria is an Illustration major at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, GA. Along her illustration studies she has created many narratives and stories full of all sorts of different characters. Victoria has also done many commissions over the years because of her character work. She plans to create many visual stories and narratives covering all sorts of issues and lives for others to relate and learn from in a fantastically fictional way.
On learning she received the 2026 Jay Kennedy Memorial Scholarship, Victoria responded:
“I am very grateful for this reward and will utilize it towards my love for wacky, fantastical, and dark stories as a visual storyteller. I enjoy telling stories about all sorts of people with the intention of others being able to find comfort and familiarity in my works. My goals for my future is to be able to create illustrations and stories showcasing such individuals and stories that seem taboo and get conversations started.”
The Jay Kennedy Memorial Scholarship is an annual award established in memory of Jay Kennedy, the late King Features comics editor, from an initial grant from the Hearst Foundation/King Features Syndicate and additional generous donations from other prominent cartoonists. It is administered by the National Cartoonists Society Foundation. The applicants submitted eight examples of their work along with an entry form that included short essays on their current and future plans in cartooning. Entries were judged by a jury of professional cartoonists who are members of the National Cartoonists Society Foundation. The scholarship is awarded to a college student in the United States, Canada or Mexico who will be in their Junior or Senior year of college during the following academic year.
