Donate Art for a Worthy Cause

There are only a few museums around the country that focus on comics and cartooning as part of their ongoing programs. The Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, the  MoCCA (Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art) in New York and the Museum of Cartoon Art in San Fransisco are three that come to mind right away.

A fourth is The Toonseum, a part of the excellent Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, in Pittsburgh, PA. The Toonseum’s mission statement is: “to celebrate the art of cartooning. (Their) goal is to promote a deeper appreciation of the cartoonists and their work through hands-on workshops, community outreach, cartoon-oriented educational programming, and exhibitions of original cartoon art.”

The Toonseum is about to have their first art show/sell at the Zombo Gallery in Pittsburgh. “Ink and Paint” takes place Nov. 14- Dec. 6th.

From the Zombo press release:

INK AND PAINT..THE CARTOON SHOW AT ZOMBO GALLERY!

NOVEMBER 14- DECEMBER 6

[Pittsburgh, PA] Come see the first ever partnership between the ToonSeum and Zombo Gallery: Ink and Paint. The exhibition will feature traditional ink cartoons and less traditional paintings by national and local cartoonists. The opening reception is on Friday, November 14, 2008 from 6 to 11 pm. The show will run through Saturday, December 6, 2008.

Ink and Paint is inspired by the desire to showcase the variety of work created by cartoonists. “Cartoonists work in many mediums, and diverse styles. We wanted to create a gallery show that would give the public and collectors the opportunity to explore cartoons as a highly entertaining and collectible art form.” says Ink and Paint curator, Joe Wos

The show will feature some of the nations top talent including Dan Piraro, Rob Rogers, Jim Borgman, Mike Peters, Lee Moder, Ed Piskor, Wayno, Steph Scuillo, and Joe Wos, among others.

The exhibition will feature original art for sale as well as a silent auction of select items. All proceeds will benefit the ToonSeum, Pittsburgh’s museum dedicated to the cartoon arts. The ToonSeum celebrated its first birthday in October 2008. In its first year they created groundbreaking exhibitions including Drawn to the Hive: Cartooning Pittsburgh’s Mayors, Wee Pal’s: The Works of Morrie Turner, and Just Kidding Around: Children in Cartoons and Comics.

“Zombo Gallery is the home for Cartoon low-brow pop art,” says Zombo Gallery owner, Michael Devine. “Since our inception, we found that this kind of art has been neglected and needs to be brought to the local art community. Lawrenceville is the perfect spot for us. Most of the people here grew up on comics and cartoons and still have a large place in their hearts for it.”

Join the ToonSeum and Zombo Gallery at the opening reception on Friday, November 14, 2008 from 6 to 11 pm. The opening reception and gallery is free and always open to the public.

Add my name to the list of artists donating work for sale at the exhibit. I’ll be sending in an original page from MAD. Not sure which one yet.

Which brings me to the subject of this post! The Toonseum would be happy to accept donations of original cartoon art from professional cartoonists.

From Joe Woos at The Toonseum:

We are asking our cartoonists friends to support the ToonSeum by donating a piece to this event. All proceeds will benefit the ToonSeum, Pittsburgh’s Museum of Cartoon Art. Your donation of art helps us create exhibitions, as well as present workshops, panels, and educational programming related to the cartoon arts.

We are looking for traditional cartoon art, paintings, sculpture, anything at all created by cartoonists. We hope we can count you to participate in this show.

All items must be recieved by November 7th. They may be shipped to

The ToonSeum,
10 Children’s Way
Pittsburgh, PA 15212

If you are in Pittsburgh and need us to pick up an item just let me know.

Please feel free to forward this to fellow cartoonists and artists friends. On behalf of the ToonSeum thank you for your continued help and support.

Joe Wos
Executive Director,
The ToonSeum
412-325-1060
joe@toonseum.com

Museums like this need all the support they can get! If you don’t have any art that you think will help them, you can always donate directly.