Grimmy from Mother Goose and Grimm by Mike Peters

What a Hoot! A Mike Peters Retrospective examines the life and work of the Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist and creator of the King Features comic strip Mother Goose and Grimm. Between his popular strip’s host of hilarious animals and a body of editorial cartoons spanning nine presidencies, visitors will learn about Peters’ world-view as well as his fervent sense of humor.

Peters’ early work will also be featured, from his time as a student and in the Army. This retrospective celebrates the energy, intelligence, and laugh-out-loud humor that have characterized Mike Peters’ work for nearly 50 years.

In Death Penalty We Trust by Patrick Chappatte

Windows on Death Row features over 70 works of art by famous American political cartoonists, as well as from a more unlikely source, death row inmates. Using art as a tool for social awareness, this exhibition opens a window into an often hidden part of the ongoing conversation about capital punishment – exploring the system through the eyes of the incarcerated. At a moment when our country is becoming ever more polarized regarding racial injustice and economic inequality, the questions that this exhibition raises could not be more timely. This traveling exhibit is presented by Patrick Chappatte, Anne-Frédérique Widmann, and Anne Hromadka.

Warning: Windows on Death Row contains content that may be inappropriate for children

[Little Nemo tribute] by  Yuko Shimizu

Winsor McCay (1867 – 1934) was one of the most significant American artists of the 20th century, known best for his groundbreaking newspaper comics and early animated films. Much of his most beloved work appeared in Little Nemo in Slumberland, a full-page comic that ran every Sunday from 1905 to 1926. It was on these pages that McCay expanded the world of visual narrative: his stunning sequences, expressed through vivid illustrations and inventive panel compositions, became a cornerstone of modern comics.

In 2014, Locust Moon published Little Nemo: Dream Another Dream, a huge, full-color anthology featuring work by 100 comic artists and illustrators. Each of these artists was asked to create a new version of McCay’s famous strip, resulting in a rich and diverse collection of homages to a remarkable man.

Nancy (detail) by Ernie Bushmiller

Young people have a long, rich, and complicated history with comics in the United States. Many of the most beloved comic strip characters have been children. Similarly, boys and girls have also constituted one of the primary readerships of, as well as target audiences for, this artistic form. Comics and children just go together, like Nancy and Sluggo, Archie and Jughead, or Calvin and Hobbes.

Good Grief! Children and Comics examines the history, role and tensions of child characters in comic strips and comic books.

Image: Giacomo Patri, White Collar, 1940.

Historian, librarian, and scholar, David Beronä’s collection is one of the most complete representations of the scope of wordless books. The material in this exhibit ranges from the groundbreaking early woodcut novels of Frans Masreel and Lynd Ward, to contemporary artists like Sue Coe and George Walker, as well as cartoonists such as Shaun Tan, Peter Kuper, and more – each harnessing the universal power of visual storytelling.

Join us for FREE opening events on Saturday, February 20, 2016!