Five thousand furries bring avatars and art to Pittsburgh

Samuel Conway pointed his finger outside the hotel window. Two stories below the middle-aged man… Samuel Conway pointed his finger outside the hotel window. Two stories below the middle-aged man dressed in a scientist’s lab coat, people bustled about the downtown Pittsburgh streets.

“Stare outside that window,” Conway said, “and just about anyone you see can be a furry.”

Conway was referring to the thousands of people gathered for Anthrocon, the world’s largest convention dedicated to the fandom of anthropomorphic animals. Conway serves as chairman for Anthrocon Inc., the organization that has hosted the convention since 2006.

The annual convention, hosted at the Westin Hotel Downtown from June 14 to 17, attracted about 5,000 people from around the world to display their zeal for humanoid beasts by donning fluffy tails, bright earpieces and all manner of animal suits emulating everything from cats and dogs to dolphins and wolves.

The cost to attend the event was $30 for one day or $60 for all three days of the convention, which this year featured a “Midsummer Night’s Dream” theme. Conway was confident that Anthrocon, a 501(c)(7) nonprofit organization, generated an enormous amount of revenue, estimating that 2010’s event generated $5 million, which he said is beneficial to the city of Pittsburgh.

He added that the convention has raised more than $120 thousand for charities since 1997. This year, the charity proceeds go to Hello Bully, a rehabilitative group dedicated to supporting Pit Bulls.

Conway said Pittsburgh is a welcoming place for furries — the common name for those who don the animal costumes.

“We’ve been coming to Pittsburgh for seven years,” he said. “We love this institution.”

Conway isn’t the only one: Anthrocon in Pittsburgh has become an international phenomenon.

“This year we have people from 28 different countries — Japan, Singapore, Australia, Brazil, Argentina. Be here 10 minutes, and you’re likely to hear seven different languages,” Conway said. “Everything from cartoonists and mascots to performers and artists. Everyone here is a creative genius.”

These creative humanoid animal lovers that converge at Anthrocon emerge from all walks of life.

“Take this fluffy friend,” Conway said, pointing out an enthusiastic fan rolling around and barking in a wolf suit. “By day, he could be a computer programer, a firefighter, a doctor or an auto mechanic. I don’t think you can find a facet of society not represented.”

The scene at the hotel featured hordes of costumed enthusiasts. Scores of sales tables and booths lined the hall with vendors selling handmade costumes, leashes, harnesses, suits, paintings, comic books and countless other manners of memorabilia bounded by a common thread: animals that take on humanlike features.

Bill Holbrook, a nationally syndicated cartoonist selling books at his stand, described the furry frenzy as an age-old fascination.

“I don’t have any costumes or masks, but I have a passion for drawing animals with human characteristics — a human fascination that stems back to Aesop,” Holbrook said.

His furry webcomic “Kevin and Kell” deals with a complicated romantic relationship between a rabbit and a wolf.

“You can say a lot about humanity if you disguise it as animals,” said Holbrook. “In the case of ‘Kevin and Kell,’ it’s about people overcoming differences. Since they’re a rabbit and a wolf, it lets the difference stand for itself.”

A part-time webcomic artist and family physician from Melbourne, Australia, who writes under the name Jenner immersed himself in furry fandom for the jokes, creativity and some altogether more complicated reasons.

“Fred Flintstone doesn’t look like a human being. He’s got a short body and a big nose. But he’s bizarre and entertaining,” Jenner said. “And for cartoonists, [animals] offer humor. Why animals? If you don’t get it, you probably never will.”

Many like Jenner, however, did get it, as they strutted by stalls in heavy suits resembling wolves, dogs and bulls.

These costumes can range from $1000 to $3000 dollars, according to Anthrocon Publications Director Karl Jorgensen.

“I’ve seen ones with robotic ears and small electronic screens to see out of,” he said.

For Jorgensen, who has donned the furry suit a few times, costuming is a labor of love.

“They’re really uncomfortable to wear,” he said. “We have a ‘Headless Zone’ for costumers to go inside and take a break. It has fans and water to cool off.”

Following a desire to stay in character, most furries refused to remove the cumbersome headgear outside of this zone. Some even used long straws reaching out of their costume headpiece to slurp a cold drink to cool off instead of breaking the fantasy by removing the suit.

Costumers playfully bent their heads to get petted and pose for pictures with strangers but, per an unspoken rule, did not talk.

Toward the back of the convention hall, an art gallery exhibited amateur and professional works by furries, and walls were covered with works depicting blends of man and beast. One painting showed a wolf in a police uniform. Another showed a cat with the body of a voluptuous woman.

Coveted works were available to be bid on during a silent auction, with more envied pieces available in a live auction. All the proceeds went back to the artists.

“Some years, I’ve seen a piece go for higher than $10,000,” Jorgensen said.

Toward the back of the gallery was a mature section, where pieces could only be seen by those over the age of 18. Such pieces depicted anthropomorphic animals in more graphic, sexual displays.

Conway admitted that there were adult images that might not suit some peoples’ tastes, but insisted that anthropomorphic animal pornography was not a universal obsession of Anthrocon attendees. Rather, he said, many media agencies have created a stereotype that stigmatizes furries everywhere.

“Popular press has done a hack job. I think it’s a very American reaction to go ‘Oh, it’s a fetish thing,’” said Conway, who has found Europeans much more open-minded to the furry movement. “Is there adult material? Yeah, for those who are so inclined, but we keep the open area safe for families and children.”

Artist and writer Kitt Mouri had her own opinions about mature furry art.

“The humanesque body is beautiful; just like how you would see a beautiful nude human body in a museum or an art gallery — it’s just tasteful nudity,” she said.

Aside from her main fantasy works, which are all-ages friendly, Mouri also had a binder of mature art.

She flipped through the binder, which showed naked humanoid beasts in non-sexually-charged positions. One depicted a naked cartoon animal in the shape of a pregnant woman.

“To each their own, but I personally don’t care for [pornography],” Mouri said.

Jorgensen put the issue of Anthrocon’s furry pornography another way: “It’s really not what we’re all about.”

The vast majority of what Anthrocon offered had nothing to do with pornography — much more had to do with creative identity.

Unlike sci-fi or anime conventions, where fans dress like a character they admire from a show or movie, Jorgensen explained that most furries invent their own characters or alter egos with unique personalities and appearances.

One furry, identified as Flying Fire, explained the imaginary creature she invented and identified with.

“This,” she said holding up a picture, “is Breogh, a polymorphic dragon.”

Breogh sported slews of rainbow hues over a blend of Asian and Western dragonry.

“My friend’s [creature] is a unicorn dragon crystal Pegasus. And also centaur,” she added.

One artist, Bobby, sketched up requests when he wasn’t busy making his own characters, taking fantasy animals from customers’ heads and drawing them on the page.

“This is Nivi. He’s an arctic fox,” said Bobby of the laminated picture pinned to his shirt. The badge showed a smiling bluish-gray fox with the build of a slender teenage boy. He explained that Nivi was representative of himself in that the creature is loud, outgoing and playful.

Bobby said making these characters is an artist’s way of expressing something.

For many fans, creating characters is an opportunity to shape identity. As for a chance to see one’s fantasy emerge on the page at the hand of an artist, “It’s definitely special,” Bobby said.