9-24-98

OHIO STATE TO HOST FESTIVAL OF CARTOON ART

	COLUMBUS -- Some of the nation’s most talented cartoonists 
will join with researchers in mid-October at The Ohio State 
University to explore cartoons as an art form.

	More than a dozen cartoonists and researchers will make 
presentations during the 1998 Festival of Cartoon Art being held 
Oct. 9-10 at Ohio State.  The festival, hosted by the 
university’s Cartoon Research Library, is focusing on the theme 
“The Art of Cartooning: Its History, Current Status and Future 
Prospects.”  Most events are held in the Conference Theatre of 
the Ohio Union, 1739 N. High St.

	The Cartoon Research Library hosts the festival every three 
years to study and celebrate cartoons.  In addition to forum 
presentations, the 1998 festival features two exhibitions -- one 
on MAD magazine materials and one that includes the work of 
pioneer cartoonist and animated filmmaker Winsor McCay, best 
known for his early 20th century comic strip “Little Nemo in 
Slumberland.”

	Guest presenters include two Pulitzer Prize winners -- 
Arizona Republic editorial cartoonist Steve Benson and Maus 
author Art Spiegelman, also a contributing editor for The New 
Yorker.

	Festival participants will tour the exhibition “The Genius 
of Winsor McCay,” which is on display at the Cartoon Research 
Library’s Reading Room Gallery, 27 W. 17th Ave. Mall, through 
Dec. 30.  They also will view “Humor in a Jugular Vein: An 
Expanded Exhibition of the Art, Artists and Artifacts of MAD 
Magazine” from the Collection of Mark J. Cohen and Rose Marie 
McDaniel, which will be on display Oct. 1 through Nov. 13 at the 
Columbus College of Art and Design’s Joseph V. Canzani Center 
Exhibition Hall, 60 Cleveland Ave.  In connection with this 
exhibit, Mark Cohen will present a gallery talk to festival 
participants at 5:15 p.m. Oct. 9 at the Canzani Center.  

	Both exhibits are free and open to the public.  

	Admission to the Festival of Cartoon Art Forum is by pre-
registration.  The cost is $75 for regular admission and $15 for 
students and senior citizens.  Attendance at the final banquet, 
at 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 10, is an additional $20 per person.  
The registration fee includes admission to all forum 
presentations, two exhibition catalogs, morning refreshments on 
both days, an exhibition reception and a souvenir tote bag.  
Scholarship aid is available for students upon request.

	Other participating presenters are:  Robert C. Harvey, 
author of The Art of the Funnies: An Aesthetic History and The 
Art of the Comic Book: An Aesthetic History; “The Spirit” creator 
Will Eisner; “Mutts” creator Patrick McDonnell; “Speed Bump” 
creator Dave Coverly; The New Yorker cartoonist Victoria Roberts; 
Universal Press Syndicate editorial cartoonist Ted Rall;  
editorial cartoonist Joel Pett of the Lexington Herald-Leader; 
“Bone” creator Jeff Smith; “Luther” creator and Florida Today 
columnist Brumsic Brandon Jr.; “Frank and Ernest” creator Bob 
Thaves; and derf, Village Voice cartoonist and creator of “The 
City.”

	The Ohio State University Cartoon Research Library is the  
world’s largest academic repository of cartoon art.  Among items 
housed at the library are the largest collection of original 
cartoon art and the largest collection of historic comic strip 
tear sheets and clipping files in the nation.

	The 1998 Festival of Cartoon Art is underwritten by a grant 
from the Andrews McMeel Universal Foundation.  It is co-sponsored 
by Ohio State University Libraries, the College of the Arts, and 
the School of Journalism and Communication.

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Contact:  Lucy Shelton Caswell or Erin Shipley, Cartoon Research 
	  Library, (614) 292-0538, or via e-mail at cartoons@osu.edu

Note:  A festival schedule is available on the library’s Web site 
at http://www.lib.ohio-state.edu/OSU_profile/cgaweb/cga.htm. 
Contact Lucy Caswell to request Jeff Stahler caricatures of 
participating artists.