During a trip to San Francisco last week I had an opportunity to visit the Cartoon Art Museum. Established in 1984 it is one of the longest standing facilities dedicated to the genre. And it is the only museum in the western US devoted to the preservation and exhibition of all forms of cartoon art.
The permanent collection of the museum consists of over 6,000 pieces of early newspaper strips, original comic book pages and animation cels. They also host nine to twelve major exhibitions annually as well as lectures and classes for children and adults. The museum also features a research library.
Special Exhibits on display during my visit included, Pretty In Ink: The Trina Robbins Collection, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Raw Fury: The Art of Mike Zeck. All were outstanding.
And I was fortunate to work with very talented journalist, Daphne O’Neal. Daphne conducted the interviews with Summerlea Kashar, executive director of the museum and curator Andrew Farago. You’ll see her fine work on an upcoming episode.
I was in my element in the museum’s gallery. They have a great collection that any fan of cartoon art should see. And I had a blast talking comics and cartooning with Summerlea and Andrew. They are fine custodians of this remarkable facility. I’m already looking forward to my next visit.
If you are a comics fan who lives in the San Francisco bay area or are planning to travel there you owe it to yourself to make time to swing by the Museum of Cartoon Art. And consider getting involved as a volunteer or by making a donation. Even one of the preeminent collections of this uniquely American art form needs your support to keep its doors open. You may learn more about the museum via the website at: http://cartoonart.org/
And keep watching, the best is yet to come!
