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  Location within San Francisco County Show map of San Francisco County Cartoon Art Museum (California) Show map of California Cartoon Art Museum (the United States) Show map of the United States | |
| Established | 1984 |
|---|---|
| Location | 781 Beach Street, San Francisco, California |
| Coordinates | 37°48′23″N122°25′26″W / 37.8062666°N 122.4238831°W /37.8062666; -122.4238831 |
| Type | The art ofcomics andcartoons |
| Collection size | 6,000 pieces |
| Director | Summerlea Kashar |
| Curator | Andrew Farago |
| Website | www |
TheCartoon Art Museum (CAM) is a California art museum that specializes in the art ofcomics andcartoons. It is the only museum in theWestern United States dedicated to the preservation and exhibition of all forms of cartoon art.[1] The permanent collection features some 7,000 pieces as of 2015, including originalanimationcels,comic book pages and sculptures.[2]
Until September 2015, the museum was located in theYerba Buena Gardens cultural district ofSan Francisco, in theSouth of Market neighborhood. It reopened in October 2017, in a new location in theFisherman's Wharf area ofSan Francisco.
The Museum was founded in 1984 by comic art enthusiasts,[3] with its primary founder beingMalcolm Whyte,[2][4] the publisher ofTroubador Press. CAM's first incarnation had no fixed location, instead organizing showings at other local museums and corporate spaces. In 1987, with the help of an endowment from cartoonistCharles Schulz, it established a home on the second floor of theSan Francisco Call-Bulletin Building in theSouth of Market (SoMa) area.
In late 1994 the museum temporarily closed while it moved locations again,[5] re-opening in the summer of 1995.[6] Primary founder Malcolm Whyte retired from the museum's board of directors around the same time.[7]
In 1997, the museum suffered through serious financial difficulties, and was almost forced to close[8]—this was despite a new endowment fund from theSchulz Foundation.[9]
Jenny E. Robb served as curator of the Cartoon Art Museum from 2000 to 2005. (Robb is now curator of theBilly Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum in Columbus, Ohio.) Current curatorAndrew Farago took over from Robb in 2005.
In 2001, the museum moved to a ground-floor location at 655 Mission Street in SoMa, which had been vacated by theFriends of Photography Ansel Adams Center[citation needed]. It closed the location in mid-September 2015 after the lease expired; the owners more than doubled the rent.[2]
In late 2016, the museum signed a 10-year lease on a historic, 8,000-square-foot brick building a block away fromGhiradelli Square.[10] Almost a year later, during late October 2017, the Cartoon Art Museum finally reopened its doors at its new location with three new exhibitions, including a retrospective of the San Francisco cartoonistRaina Telgemeier, a tribute exhibition ofMike Mignola'sHellboy, and the emerging artist showcase featuringNidhi Chanani.
Over the years, the Museum has presented theSparky Award (after the nickname ofCharles M. Schulz), in honor of the lifetime achievement of prominent creators in the fields of cartooning and animation who "embody the talent, innovation and humanity of Schulz."[11] The award, which is co-sponsored by theCharles M. Schulz Museum, includes a statuette ofSnoopy holding a pen and leaning on aninkwell. (The CAM Sparky Award is not connected to the award of the same name presented at theSlamdance Film Festival.)
The award debuted in 1998,[12] and multiple winners were announced each year until 2001. After a six-year hiatus, the award was again presented in 2007. The most recent Sparky Award was given in 2022.[13]
The Sparky Award has been presented at various venues, includingSan Diego Comic-Con and theNew York Comic Con.
List of Sparky Award winners:[14]
The Museum hosts nine to 12 major exhibitions annually, along with classes for children and adults. It also offers lectures and operates a research library, a classroom and a bookstore.
The institution [...] has to vacate its home in San Francisco's South of Market neighborhood after its longtime lease ends in June, but has not yet found a new one. [... It ] counts approximately 7,000 original pieces as part of its permanent collection, including comic strips, political cartoons, comic book pages, advertisements, sculptures, videos and animation cels, backgrounds and sketches.
The Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco threw a surprise 75th birthday party last week for its founder, Malcolm Whyte. The museum, which Whyte founded 25 years ago, is the world's largest devoted to cartoon art. Jeannie Schulz presented a Cartoon Art Museum "Sparky" award, named after her late husband, Charles Schulz, to Whyte, who was also given a caricature of himself by artist Zach Trenholm.
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37°47′14″N122°24′03″W / 37.787088°N 122.400940°W /37.787088; -122.400940
