Published: November 20, 2009 03:21 pm      

‘Campaigns & Cartoons’ exhibit opens at Benjamin Harrison Home

INDIANAPOLIS — Syndicated political cartoonist Gary Varvel and Judge Julian L. Ridlen will open the “Campaigns and Cartoons” exhibit of original sketches and published political cartoons with a program on caricatures and the unveiling of an original Varvel cartoon of Benjamin Harrison at 3 p.m. Nov. 22 at the President Benjamin Harrison Home, 1230 N. Delaware St., Indianapolis.

The event is free and open to the public. Varvel will unveil his 30x40-inch original caricature of the 23rd president and sign a limited edition of numbered 16x20-inch prints of it, which will be available for sale. In addition, a limited number of Varvel’s book, Varvelous, will be available for purchase for $5 each .

Varvel has been popular with readers of the Indianapolis Star since 1994 and was chief artist with the Indianapolis News for 16 years prior to his Star assignment.

Ridlen will provide a historical perspective on the cartoons and caricatures in the exhibit, focusing upon a 50-year span during which the political cartoon came of age, maintaining a unique role in political persuasion. Ridlen is a former Indiana State Treasurer (1979-87) and lawyer. Currently, he is a senior judge. He has served as an adjunct faculty member at IU Kokomo, teaching courses on Indiana history. He has collected political ephemera for more than 50 years.

The “Campaigns & Cartoons; Role of Caricature in Political Persuasion, 1862-1912” exhibit will showcase more than 100 original sketches and published political cartoons from the collection of Ridlen and his wife, Susanne S. Ridlen, Ph.D., chair of the Harrison Home board of directors. The exhibit will be part of tours of the Harrison Home through Dec. 30.

The exhibit will present the evolution of the cartoon art form and the lives of popular artists who produced and popularized symbols such as Uncle Sam, Miss Columbia, the Democrats’ donkey, and the Republicans’ elephant. Some of the artists featured in the exhibit include Thomas Nast, Matthew Morgan, Joseph Keppler, and Bernard Gillam.

In addition, the exhibit will include a wall of framed original Varvel political cartoons. Varvel is an 11-time first-place winner of the Indiana Society of Professional Journalists’ Award for Best Editorial Cartoon. He’s also a 10-time winner of the first-place award for Best Editorial Cartoonist in the Hoosier State Press Association contest. In 2006, he placed second in the national Best of Gannett award for editorial cartoonist. His work is internationally syndicated through Creators Syndicate.

The President Benjamin Harrison Foundation, Inc. is a non-profit organization whose mission is to increase public understanding of, appreciation for, and participation in the American system of self-government through the life stories of an American president.

The foundation preserves and maintains the historic 1875 Italianate Victorian home as a museum and memorial, accredited by the American Association of Museums. The three-level landmark home contains many of Harrison’s paintings, furniture, and decorative arts, including unique political memorabilia.

For more information, visit the Harrison Home’s website at www.pbhh.org.