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Cartoon Art Museum

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Cartoon Art Museum
Cartoon Art Museum is located in San Francisco County
Cartoon Art Museum
Location within San Francisco County
Cartoon Art Museum is located in California
Cartoon Art Museum
Location within California
Cartoon Art Museum is located in the United States
Cartoon Art Museum
Location within the United States
Established1984
Location781 Beach Street, San Francisco, California
Coordinates37°48′23″N 122°25′26″W / 37.8062666°N 122.4238831°W / 37.8062666; -122.4238831
TypeThe art of comics and cartoons
Collection size
6,000 pieces
DirectorSummerlea Kashar
Websitewww.cartoonart.org

The Cartoon Art Museum (CAM) was a California art museum that specialized in the art of comics and cartoons. It was the only museum in the Western United States dedicated to the preservation and exhibition of all forms of cartoon art.[1] The permanent collection featured some 7,000 pieces as of 2015, including original animation cels, comic book pages and sculptures.[2]

Until September 2015, the museum was located in the Yerba Buena Gardens cultural district of San Francisco, in the South of Market neighborhood. It reopened in October 2017 in a new location in the Fisherman's Wharf area. The museum closed in August 2026.

History

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The Museum was founded in 1984 by comic art enthusiasts,[3] with its primary founder being Malcolm Whyte,[2][4] the publisher of Troubador Press. CAM's first incarnation had no fixed location, instead organizing showings at other local museums and corporate spaces.[5] In 1987, with the help of an endowment from cartoonist Charles Schulz, it established a home on the second floor of the San Francisco Call-Bulletin Building in the South of Market (SoMa) area.

The Cartoon Art Museum entrance at its previous location, 655 Mission Street

In late 1994 the museum temporarily closed while it moved locations again,[6] re-opening in summer 1995.[7] Primary founder Malcolm Whyte retired from the museum's board of directors around the same time.[8]

In 1997, the museum suffered through serious financial difficulties, and was almost forced to close,[9] despite a new endowment fund from the Schulz Foundation.[5][10]

Jenny E. Robb served as curator of the Cartoon Art Museum from 2000 to 2005. (She subsequently became curator of the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum in Columbus, Ohio.)[11] Summerlea Kashar has been the executive director since 2010.[5]

In 2001, the museum moved to a ground-floor location at 655 Mission Street in SoMa, which had been vacated by the Friends of Photography Ansel Adams Center.[12] 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 from Ghiradelli Square.[13][14] Almost a year later, in 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 cartoonist Raina Telgemeier, a tribute exhibition of Mike Mignola's Hellboy, and the emerging artist showcase featuring Nidhi Chanani.[15][16]

Impacted by COVID-19 and the slow recovery of tourism in San Francisco, the Cartoon Art Museum announced in July 2026 that it would not renew its lease, and closed on August 2, 2026. The organization is considering future plans for its collection.[17][18] The museum's executive director said the closure may not be permanent, "We will take this time to recharge, reset and consider what comes next."[19]

Sparky Award

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Over the years, the Museum has presented the Sparky Award (after the nickname of Charles 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."[20] The award, which is co-sponsored by the Charles M. Schulz Museum, includes a statuette of Snoopy holding a pen and leaning on an inkwell. (The CAM Sparky Award is not connected to the award of the same name presented at the Slamdance Film Festival.)

The award debuted in 1998,[21] 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.[22]

The Sparky Award has been presented at various venues, including San Diego Comic-Con and the New York Comic Con.

List of Sparky Award winners:[23]

Exhibitions

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The Museum hosted nine to 12 major exhibitions annually, along with classes for children and adults. It also offered lectures and operated a research library, a classroom and a bookstore.

References

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  1. ↑ "Curating Cartoons (Andrew Farago, Cartoon Art Museum)," Archived February 2, 2014, at the Wayback Machine Stanford Arts (Jan. 9, 2014).
  2. 1 2 3 Vaziri, Aidin (April 18, 2015). "Cartoon Art Museum to vacate longtime SoMa home". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved April 18, 2015. 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.
  3. ↑ Tanner, Marcia (February 3, 1993). "Getting Serious About the Comics". San Francisco Chronicle. p. 7/Z1.
  4. 1 2 Garchik, Leah (February 29, 2008). "Friends recall William Buckley's grace". San Francisco Chronicle. 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.
  5. 1 2 3 "The Cartoon Art Museum is Back in Full Force: Expanded Programming & Guest Speaker Nick Park (Early Man, Wallace & Gromit)". SFStation. February 5, 2018. Retrieved August 2, 2026.
  6. ↑ "Newswatch: Cartoon Art Museum also on the Move". The Comics Journal (173): 38. December 1994.
  7. ↑ Stephenson, Chad (July 1995). "Newswatch: The Cartoon Art Museum: A Grand Re-Opening". The Comics Journal (178): 26–28.
  8. ↑ "Founder of Cartoon Art Museum Retires". The Comics Journal (179): 25. August 1995.
  9. ↑ Stump, Greg (August 1997). "Newswatch: Comics Museums Facing Financial Crisis". The Comics Journal (198): 11–15.
  10. ↑ "News Watch: Schulz Foundation Sets Up Endowment Fund for Cartoon Art Museum". The Comics Journal (195): 24. April 1997.
  11. ↑ Klumpp, Jeremy (June 13, 2018). "Art Matters: Jenny Robb of the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum". Pulp: Arts Around Ann Arbor. Retrieved August 2, 2026.
  12. ↑ Bonetti, David (October 18, 2001). "Ansel Adams Center to shut its doors: Nonprofit will sell 140 of his prints". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved August 2, 2026.
  13. ↑ Jones, Kevin L. (September 18, 2024) [November 3, 2016]. "Cartoon Art Museum Finds New Home in San Francisco". KQED Arts. Retrieved August 2, 2026.
  14. ↑ Hartlaub, Peter (November 2, 2016). "Cartoon Art Museum finds new home in SF". San Francisco Chronicle.
  15. ↑ The Cartoon Art Museum (October 27, 2017). "CARTOON ART MUSEUM REOPENS: Saturday, October 28th". Tumblr. Retrieved August 2, 2026.
  16. ↑ Jackson, Stephen (November 20, 2017). "The Cartoon Art Museum Gets a New Home". SF Weekly. Retrieved August 2, 2026.
  17. ↑ Vaziri, Aidin (August 2, 2026). "Beloved San Francisco museum closes its doors with future uncertain". San Francisco Chronicle.
  18. ↑ "Cartoon Art Museum update: Closing a chapter..." Cartoon Art Museum. July 31, 2026. Retrieved August 2, 2026.
  19. ↑ Medina, Madilynne (August 3, 2026). "SF Cartoon Art Museum closes weeks after former curator's arrest". SFGATE. Retrieved August 12, 2026.
  20. 1 2 "Gene Colan Awarded Sparky Award," Comic Book Resources (December 11th, 2008).
  21. 1 2 Klien, Gary. "Marin cartoonist, 95, wins 'Sparky' award," Archived 2014-02-22 at the Wayback Machine Marin Independent Journal (Oct. 28, 2007).
  22. 1 2 "SAN FRANCISCO PROCLAIMS MAY 5 'RON TURNER DAY': Legendary Publisher Also Gets 'Sparky Award'," ICv2 (May 7, 2015).
  23. ↑ 2001 Sparky Awards Archived 2014-01-12 at the Wayback Machine, www.cartoonart.org. Accessed Jan. 28, 2014.
  24. ↑ Allen, Todd (August 17, 2017). "Jeff Smith Wins 2017 Sparky Award". The Beat.
  25. ↑ "The Sparky Awards". Cartoon Art Museum. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  26. ↑ Kaplan, Ollie (May 7, 2025). "Syndicated Comics". The Beat. Retrieved August 16, 2026.
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37°47′14″N 122°24′03″W / 37.787088°N 122.400940°W / 37.787088; -122.400940

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