April and May have turned out to be very busy months for all of us here at The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum! If you’re in or around Ohio, mark your calendars for some excellent upcoming comics events:

On Friday, April 20th from 6-8pm in Cincinnati: The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum will present “A Tasteful Evening” in Cincinnati at the Hyde Park Golf and Country Club. The event will feature noted former Cincinnati Enquirer editorial cartoonist and “Zits” creator Jim Borgman, and a scotch tasting with an expert scotch master. The program will include an update from Director of Libraries Carol Diedrichs and Jenny Robb, curator of the OSU Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum, on the renovation of Sullivant Hall, the future home of the Cartoon Library. Tickets to the event can be purchase online.

On Saturday, April 21st at 2pm at The Ramada Plaza Hotel & Convention Center: Visiting Curator Caitlin McGurk will be giving a presentation at the 2012 SPACE alternative comics convention! She will be talking about the history of the Cartoon Library, what they do, some of the incredible gems in their collection, and what the future holds for the museum. In 2013 the Cartoon Library will be expanding their physical space from a 6,800 sq-ft basement to a glorious 30,000 sq-ft home in Sullivant Hall at the gateway to OSU’s campus, solidifying it as a top destination in America for all things comics. Come listen to an overview of their mission, and get excited for what’s to come!

On Friday, May 11th at 4:30pm in the Wexner Center Film and Video Theater: Cartoonist Matt Madden, creator of 99 Ways to Tell a Story: Exercises in Style, talks about his work and how the arbitrary constraints of Oulipo have produced great art in all kinds of media. Do you think you could make a comic where each panel would only show an extreme close-up of a hand? Or where each panel zooms in closer to a single object? A comic that you can read in more than one direction? Many great works of art begin from willfully perverse constraints or rules such as these. Drawing not just from comics but from literature, film, and music—both popular and experimental—Madden describes the lineage of creativity first identified by Oulipo, a French literary group whose name translates loosely to “workshop for potential literature.” More information here. This event was made possible in collaboration with the Wexner Center for the Arts.

On Saturday, May 12th from 11am-4pm at the Wexner Center: Constrained Comics Workshop- This workshop for emerging teen artists of comics and graphic novels offers a full day of drawing and writing exercises based on Oubapo—a comics movement that uses formalized constraints or “rules” established by your group. Be sure to bring your sketchbooks! Register here. This event was made possible in collaboration with the Wexner Center for the Arts

On Saturday, May 12th from 1pm-4pm at the Wexner Center: Matt Madden leads a workshop that utilizes the principles of Oulipo, creating cartoons under artistic constraints.  No prior experience is necessary, and materials will be provided. $15 / $12 students and Wexner members. Advance registration is required and space is limited; call 614-292-6493 for more info.

On Tuesday, May 15th at 7pm in the Wexner Center Film and Video Theater: Ohio State grad and Cleveland-based cartoonist Derf Backderf visits to discuss his new graphic novel, My Friend Dahmer, an account of growing up in the same small Ohio town as notorious serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. Best known for his strip The City, Derf is a two-time Eisner Award nominee and received a Robert F. Kennedy Journalism award in 2006. Join us following the event for a book signing in the Wexner Center Store. More information here. This event was made possible in collaboration with the Wexner Center for the Arts

On Thursday, May 17th at 7pm in the Cartoon Library: “Remembering Ding” is an exhibition commemorating the 50th anniversary of the death of Jay N. “Ding” Darling, editorial cartoonist and influential conservationist. Please join us for the opening reception of the exhibit on May 17th, as well as a lecture on Ding’s legacy by Richard Samuel West, author of the newly published “Iconoclast in Ink: The Political Cartoons of Jay N. “Ding” Darling“ (which will be available for the first time at this event). More information here.

From Friday, May 18th to Saturday May 19th: OSU’s Sexuality Studies Department will host Queer Practices, Places, and Lives: A Symposium in Honor of Samuel Steward. More information on the symposium can be found here. The exhibit cases in Thompson Library will feature materials from the special collections libraries- including The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum–that represent Queer history. Stop by to see our exhibit case featuring Queer-themed comics and creators.

 

Many thanks to all of our cosponsors and collaborators who helped make these events possible!