Comic-Con may be months away, but the NTC Arts & Culture District in historic Liberty Station is already gearing up for a comic explosion and the arrival of Ninja Turtles.
IDW Publishing has announced it’s relocating their headquarters and creative team, as well as opening a groundbreaking new San Diego Comic Art Gallery, to Liberty Station. The grand opening is scheduled for June 1.
IDW’s new offices and a gallery will be located in two renovated former barracks buildings, among the first buildings constructed in 1923 for Naval Training Center San Diego. At 18,300 square feet, IDW will become the largest tenant in the already vibrant arts district.
The San Diego Comic Art Gallery (SDCAG) will be a unique, new and dynamic space located within the IDW offices, designed to educate and engage visitors with the sequential comic book and graphic arts.
The SDCAG will create a permanent home in San Diego as a showcase for this celebrated art form, already associated with San Diego, thanks to Comic-Con International. 
With a retail space, a gallery of original art from comics and animation, and actual working artists on the premises, the SDCAG is an entirely new kind of venture. Through events, author and artist appearances, art installations and celebrations, the SDCAG will become a destination to worldwide fans of the medium, and cement San Diego’s status as a capital of the comic arts.  
 “The NTC Foundation welcomes IDW Publishing and their creative team to the NTC Arts & Culture District at Liberty Station,” said NTC Foundation executive director Alan Ziter. “IDW joins more than 80 artists, dance companies, museums, galleries, music groups and art schools in San Diego’s largest cultural district outside of Balboa Park.  Their new San Diego Comic Art Gallery will be a great addition to the numerous art galleries and museums already at NTC and we look forward to the creative collaborations ahead.”
Ziter said it’s anticipated that SDCAG will be a San Diego landmark destination for comic and animation art lovers from all over the world and “help draw new visitors to our district.”
The time for IDW to move had come.
“We’ve been expanding rapidly, and simply have run out of room, ” said Ted Adams, IDW CEO/publisher. “We’ve been looking for a space that more accurately reflects who we are as a company. When we started talking with NTC, it became evident immediately that this would be a perfect fit. “And with the gallery, we’re going to be able to show the community — and the world — just who IDW is. This move is the perfect next step in the evolution of our company.”
The design and build out of IDW’s move into the historic buildings is being made possible with the assistance of San Diego area businesses Good & Roberts LLC and obrARCHITECTURE inc.
The first installation in IDW’s remodeled space will be an extensive showcase of the work of Kevin Eastman, co-creator of the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” and a San Diego resident. 
Harry L. Katz, former head curator in the Prints and Photographs Division at the Library of Congress, has been named the curator of SDCAG.
IDW is an award-winning publisher of comic books, graphic novels and trade paperbacks, based in San Diego. Renowned for its diverse catalog of licensed and independent titles, IDW publishes some of the most successful and popular titles in the industry.
NTC at Liberty Station is San Diego’s largest Arts & Cultural District located in historic buildings at the former Naval Training Center in Liberty Station. With 28 park-like acres and 16 of its 26 buildings complete, NTC is home to nearly 80 museums and galleries, artist studios, dance companies, educational groups, multidisciplinary arts, creative retail and other organizations that showcase San Diego’s creative community and provide innovative experiences for the public.  NTC is under the stewardship of the not-for-profit NTC Foundation. 
For more information, visit www.ntclibertystation.com.