Comics and cartoons are a mirror to our world, reflecting our histories, values, cultures and anxieties—and nowhere in the world are they more treasured than at The Ohio State University’s Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum (BICLM). As the largest, most comprehensive academic research facility documenting printed cartoon art in the world, the BICLM attracts researchers and comics enthusiasts from around the globe to Ohio State’s campus, where our facility is open and free to the public.
The BICLM showcases editorial cartoons, comic strips, comic books, graphic novels, magazine cartoons, animation drawings and cels, manga, merchandise and archival materials created by thousands of admired artists like Alison Bechdel, Milton Caniff, Robert Crumb, Edwina Dumm, Charles Schulz, Barbara Shermund, Garry Trudeau and countless more. The BICLM team collaborates with faculty from departments as diverse as history, education, African American and African studies, economics and others to provide primary sources that offer a unique lens into their subject matter.
The BICLM is a campus gem and point of pride among Buckeye Nation, housed in the newly renovated Sullivant Hall in the heart of Ohio State’s arts district. Now, the BICLM is ready to take its impact to the next level. Many opportunities exist for donor support, including funding for strategic acquisitions - particularly cartoons and comics by underrepresented artists - additional support for our visiting researchers fund, support to enable the hiring of a cartoon/comic arts educator, digitizing and cataloguing efforts and the creation of endowed faculty positions.