Last weekend, I had the deep honor of seeing my own work on the walls at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum’s exhibit, FACING FEELINGS: The Art of Raina Telgemeier!
Raina stands against a turquoise wall that reads ‘Facing Feelings: The Art of Raina Telgemeier’ at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum in Columbus, OH.
I have been working with the museum’s curators on this show since the summer of 2021. It’s a retrospective of my nearly twenty years as a professional cartoonist, plus a selection of work I made along the path to get there: art and artifacts my parents saved from my childhood, comics I did in school, and stories from my early days as a self-published minicomics creator.
Visitors look at Raina’s comics on a wall featuring an illustrated backdrop of the San Francisco skyline.
A gallery wall at the Billy featuring multiple comics pages by Raina, underneath large cartoon circles featuring faces depicting ‘sadness’ and ‘fear’ emotions.
Raina with Anne Drozd, curator of Facing Feelings, in front of a wall with the title ‘Complexity of Emotion,’ featuring several pieces of comic art by Raina against the backdrop of a multimedia art piece called We Feel Fine. Photo by Jenny Robb.
My friend Anne Drozd, who curated the exhibit, sorted through piles of my (semi-organized) original art and came up with a fantastic way of presenting it on the walls of the Billy. The philosophy behind the show is emotion: exploring the different feelings we all experience as humans, and how cartoonists have been portraying these emotions with a common visual language for centuries. I’ve always been drawn to comics with strong emotional resonance, good character writing, and expressive art. It’s the kind of work I aim to create, and sharing my own feelings through the books I make is exactly what keeps me going. I believe my readers can feel it!
Two young readers view artwork in a glass case inside the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum’s galleries.
My own first visit to the Billy was almost a decade ago, for the Bill Watterson and Richard Thompson joint exhibition. I broke into spontaneous tears upon seeing how much white-out was on the original Calvin and Hobbes strips! And how beautiful those scratchy Cul de Sac ink lines were! I was thrilled to be able to include a few original Calvin and Hobbes strips in the influences section of Facing Feelings.
A case in the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum, featuring photos of Raina as a 13-year-old making faces for the camera, alongside an original Calvin and Hobbes comic strip by Bill Watterson, one of Raina’s biggest influences. Photo by Raina Telgemeier.
This time around, I came to Ohio for my opening talk at the Billy with my parents in tow, and was delighted to have a few friends from out of town join us as well. We got to see the museum’s archives, view some gorgeous original art, and tour my exhibit together. My parents have always been two of my biggest supporters, and having them there meant the world to me.
Raina with her mom and dad in the gallery.
Anne and I gave a joint presentation on Saturday afternoon in front of a packed house, sharing some of the thought process that went into the curation of the show and what we hope visitors might get out of it. That was followed by a spirited Q&A, and a long and joyful signing and meet & greet session with hundreds of enthusiastic readers! People were there from all over the United States. If you missed it, I’ll be back for Cartoon Crossroads Columbus (CXC) at the end of September, and will be doing another event in conjunction with the Billy for the festival. Stay tuned for dates and ticket info!
Raina on stage, directing kids in a live reading of a chapter from ‘Smile.’
Anne Drozd discusses the ideas behind her curation of the show, wowing the audience with data science!
Raina signing books for two excited readers! Photo by Denis Telgemeier.
The entryway to the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum, located on The Ohio State University’s campus in Columbus, OH.
As for the exhibit itself, the Billy has extended the dates through November 19, 2023, so if you have a chance to come to Columbus between now and then—I hope you’ll visit! The museum is FREE and open to the public Tuesdays - Sundays, 1-5pm. They also have a library and reading room, and if you’re curious to learn more about the history of cartooning, they’re an incredible resource!
A gallery wall featuring artwork from ‘Sisters.’
Finally, an exhibition catalog for Facing Feelings will be released next year, containing the art, annotations, and commentary created for the exhibit, an interview between Anne and myself, as well as a foreword by Scott McCloud! It’ll be published by Scholastic Graphix, releasing on August 6, 2024!
Unending thanks to Anne Drozd, Jenny Robb, Caitlin McGurk, and the rest of the staff and volunteers at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum. You have been a joy to work with, and I am so lucky to know you all! Comics forever!!
All photos by TOP5IVE Photography by John Landry unless otherwise noted.
