Walt Kelly’s newspaper comic strip Pogo was a platform for political satire and commentary using a motley group of swamp critters. Kelly tackled many of the political issues of the world in which he lived, from the Red Scare to civil rights, the environment, scientific exploration, and consumerism. We celebrate Walt Kelly and his social commentary through the joyous, poignant, and occasionally profound insights and beauty of the alternative universe that is Pogo. Working in the mid-twentieth century, Kelly drew on the legacy of earlier generations of newspaper cartoonists and then became a major influence on his successors.

This exhibition primarily features art and archival materials from the Walt Kelly Collection, which was donated to the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum by Selby Kelly. It also showcases artwork from the collection of Doonesbury cartoonist Garry B. Trudeau, which he generously donated to the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum in 2020.

Co-curated by Lucy Shelton Caswell, Professor Emerita and Founding Curator of the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum, and Jenny E. Robb, Curator & Associate Professor.

Image credit: Walt Kelly. Pogo, April 21, 1971. Publishers-Hall Syndicate. Reprinted by permission.