Cartoonists Gift Massive Original Art Collage to Cleveland Hospital
by GoComicsNobody wants to go to the hospital, but thanks to the curation skills of Pajama Diaries creator Terri Libenson, plus the work of 34 of her professional cartoonist peers, a visit to one Cleveland facility is now a much easier pill to swallow.
University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center now has a massive collage containing 36 black and white 5″ x 5″ character sketches by Libenson, Jim Allen (The Beauforts), Mark Anderson (Andertoons), Sunny Artanis, Tom Batiuk, Jim Borgman, Charles Brubaker (Ask a Cat), Jenny Campbell (Flo and Friends), Dave Coverly (Speed Bump), Brian Crane (Pickles), Rich Diesslin, Scott Ebisch, Hy Eisman, Graham Harrop (Ten Cats), Bill Holbrook, Scott Jensen, Polly Keener, Rick Kirkman, Jeff Knurek, Mike Lynch, Jef Mallett (Frazz), Mark Parisi (Off the Mark), Jeff Parker, Stephan Pastis (Pearls Before Swine), Lincoln Peirce (Big Nate), Hilary Price, John Rose, Pat Sandy (Next Door Neighbors), George Schill, Maria Scrivan (Half Full), John Steventon, Mark Tatulli (Heart of the City), Bill Watterson (Calvin and Hobbes) and Wayno (WaynoVision). Jan Elliot (Stone Soup) created two pieces.
The collage was inspired by Libenson's daughter, who worked with friends to create and gift original paintings and new stuffed animals to patients at Cleveland’s Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital last October as part of her Bat Mitzvah. The project was such a success, Libenson's husband Mike Davis suggested that they could work on a project for the adjoining University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center featuring donated art from her cartoonist peers.
"I put a call out for b/w 5" x 5" character sketches, and over the next few months we received a steady stream of contributions. The artwork included a variety of media, from Sharpie drawings, to pencil sketches, to ink washes, to a full-on painting," Libenson explained on her Pajama Diaries blog.
Libenson explained that she tried to get as many local cartoonists to contribute as she could, particularly those who appear in the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper, since the artist's characters would be the easiest for local families to recognize.
The sketches were collected over the course of several months and assembled within one approximately 41-by-58 inch frame. Hospital visitors of all ages can view the collage in the Humphrey Way area.
Cleveland.com had Libenson recount her curation process here:
For more information -- and many more collage images -- head over to Cleavland.com and Libenson's Pajama Diaries site.