Alanson Burton Walker was a very successful magazine cartoonist working at the beginning of 20th century.  His work was much in demand and he drew for all the important magazines of the time–Life, Harper’s, Atlantic Monthly, Saturday Evening Post, Judge and Collier’s–where he created gentle, wry cartoons on issues of the day.

Line Dancing surveys dance in cartoon art to celebrate the renovation of Sullivant Hall, the future home of both the Department of Dance and the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum.  From a 1788 print of A Cotillion – the precursor to the American square dance – to modern works like a Jules Feiffer dancer and a jig from Charles Schulz’ Snoopy, these figures dance across history and across the page. Be it a literal depiction of dance as an event in time or the symbol of dance as metaphor, the works in this exhibit are moving, just like our library!

Jay N. “Ding” Darling (1876-1962) was regarded by many as America’s greatest political cartoonist during the first half of the twentieth century. A two-time Pulitzer winner, Ding repeatedly topped popularity polls throughout the Twenties and Thirties. He was also an influential conservationist and visionary founder of the National Wildlife Federation, and both conceived of and illustrated the first Federal Duck Stamp. The Jay N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island, Florida, is named in his honor. For more than four decades, he drew for the Des Moines Register and his cartoons were syndicated around the country for millions to see. Ding was a fiercely independent spirit and a progressive Republican who followed his conscience, not party dogma. This led him to take many surprising stands, such as impassioned support for the League of Nations.

An extraordinary number of notable cartoonists have lived, worked or been educated in Columbus, Ohio. In honor of the two hundredth anniversary of the city’s founding, this exhibition features original cartoon art and other artifacts created by many of them, including Billy Ireland, Milton Caniff, Harry J. Westerman, Eugene Craig, Doc Goodwin, Bill Crawford, Edwina Dumm, Dudley T. Fisher, and James Thurber.

The only artwork Roy Doty really cares about is the work that is currently on his drawing board. This is not to say that he does not enjoy looking at finished work. He takes great pride in what he has done. The fact is, however, that the act of creating now, in the present, brings him such pleasure and satisfaction that he cannot imagine doing anything else.

Doty’s work cannot be pigeonholed. The cartoonist’s society did not think he was a cartoonist and the illustrators did not think he was an illustrator. In fact, he is both—and much more. Since 1945 he has been a successful free lance artist who never had an agent. He had his own television show, drew a comic strip for three years and won awards for his greeting card art. His advertising clients have included Ford, Macy’s, Perrier and Texas Instruments. At age 89 he is completing a book contract that requires more than 130 full-page, four-color illustrations. He draws a regular monthly magazine home improvement feature and a bi-monthly cartoon for a British publication. What has kept his art fresh is his clean line and flawless sense of design. Although much of Doty’s work was published in black and white, when he has the opportunity to use color, he excels.