How many suns? Is the Earth flat? Charles Schulz touched on many aspects of the natural world during the nearly 50 years he created Peanuts. This exhibition explores Schulz’s interpretation of the natural world in seven themed areas: The Universe; Trees, Glorious Trees; The Elements (rain, snow, and wind); For the Birds; The Web of Nature; Gardening; and Charlie Brown’s EPA Escapade. Preschoolers will enjoy “gardening” in an activity center planned just for them, while kids of all ages can learn more about the structure and function of tree leaves and trunks in a module featuring a digital video camera that will zoom in to macro-scale and display the results of their investigations on an LCD screen. Both school–aged children and adults can explore how their choices impact the environment through a specially–designed, Peanuts–themed computer program.

Especially in the early years of Peanuts, Schulz tested the bounds of his comic world by experimenting with characters (the extremely loud Charlotte Braun and her cat, Faron, for example), themes, and techniques. He quickly learned what did and did not work in his strip and discarded elements that were distracting or seemed out of place. View these little remembered Schulz experiments in this exhibition featuring 60 original Peanuts strips.

Celebrate the 60th Anniversary of Peanuts by viewing how others saw its celebrated creator. See rare self-portraits by Schulz, as well as how fellow artists captured and admired him through their own art in a mixture of mediums from oil paintings to sculptures. This exhibition will run concurrently with the debut of Schulz’s photographic portrait in the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. Visitors will also discover Schulz’s tongue–in–cheek perspective on portraiture as depicted in Peanuts. Portraits of Schulz offers a unique experience for visitors to get a personal glimpse of the man who has made Peanuts magical for the past 60 years.

Though he himself was an only child, Schulz recognized the potential for drama and humor inherent in sibling relationships, which are among the most influential and enduring associations in our lives. Over the years Peanuts portrayed many familial antics, including bossy older sisters, embarrassment caused by a brother’s inept kite flying or chronic blanket toting, and the petty bickering that can be a staple of brother/sister interactions. However, Schulz’s comic siblings were also capable of tenderhearted softness—help with homework, sage advice, comfort, and understanding. In addition to revisiting their own childhoods through original Peanuts comic strips, visitors can share favorite anecdotes of life with their own brothers and/or sisters on a talk–back board.

With the great success of Peanuts, Charles Schulz’s other artistic endeavors often get overlooked. This exhibition introduces the visitor to other facets of Schulz’s creativity through the display of his illustrated manuscripts, paintings, advertising art, and early one-panel cartoons.

Peanuts is chock full of pint-sized philosophers. From Sally’s irreverent “three” philosophies—“Life Goes On,” “Who Cares,” and “How Should I Know?”—to Linus’s frequent pontifications on the meaning of it all, the Peanuts Gang holds forth on their personal beliefs.

This exhibition presents a behind-the-scenes look at how the Schulz Museum’s birdbath hologram in the back courtyard was created by sculptor-in-light Michael Hayden. This exhibition will include the Peanuts strips from which the line drawings were taken to create the holograms and drawings, as well as diagrams of how holograms are made and how they work.

"Who Let the Dots Out"
by Tom Everhart

This exhibition examines the intersection between fine art and cartoon art in the works of such artists as Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein. Co-curated by the Sonoma State University Gallery Director and Professor of Art History, Michael Schwager, Comic Art in Fine Art will feature two and three-dimensional works of art.

This exhibition explores how, in addition to sports, play is portrayed in Peanuts.  Early strips find the Gang involved in imaginative play as they prepare for a martian attack, and a later series of strips find them engrossed in a rousing game of “Ha Ha Herman.” In between they shoot marbles, build snow forts, and fly kites.

In Charles Schulz’s storied career he won not one, but two Reuben Awards (1955 and 1964) given by the National Cartoonists Society for outstanding cartoonist of the year, the highest honor that the profession bestows. Discover who the past winners have been and who, along with Schulz, has won on multiple occasions.

November 30, 2011 through April 2, 2012
Strip Rotation Gallery

In addition to his numerous road trips—including striking out for a visit with Spike in Needles, California; walking south with Woodstock during the migration season; and his ill-fated travels to the Grenoble Olympics in France—Snoopy also set off for the moon! Snoopy’s most famous road trips will be revisited in the 65 original Peanuts strips featured in this exhibition. The full-length animated feature, Snoopy, Come Home!, will run concurrent with this exhibition in the Museum's Theater.

The 40th anniversary of Title IX is in 2012, and although Schulz didn’t lead the campaign for equality for women’s sports, he did bring attention to women athletes in a variety of ways. Schulz’s girl characters played sports (some quite badly!), he mentioned women’s sports stars, and he even gave a nod to Title IX in some Peanuts strips. This exhibition will also detail Schulz’s daughters' involvement in sports and the women’s tennis tournament he sponsored at the Redwood Empire Ice Arena.

It's a Fine Line portrays an examination of Schulz’s pen line and includes a display and description of his “tools of the trade.” This exhibition also incorporates how Schulz learned his technique and how his pen line changed over the years due to health considerations.

How does clothing reflect a character’s personality or persona—like Peppermint Patty’s sandals or Snoopy’s goggles and helmet for instance? When and why do the characters change from their normal attire? And what’s up with the Gang's winter clothing? It remained virtually unchanged for nearly 50 years! Play Clothes examines the different clothes and corresponding situations with a display of original Peanuts strips.

How effectively does Peanuts translate to different languages and cultures? In some cases even the title, Peanuts, is changed! International Peanuts will allow Museum and “cyber” visitors to weigh in on the “translation” of the characters and humor of the strip in other cultures and languages.

The World War I Flying Ace first zoomed into Peanuts on October 10, 1965, and with his signature catchphrases—“Curse you, Red Baron!” and “I’ll get you, Red Baron!”—he became one of Snoopy’s most popular alter egos. Learn more about the World War I era while laughing at the Flying Aces’ antics as he attempts to evade the skillful and cunning Red Baron.

The Peanuts strip entered a new realm of abstraction when Sally’s schoolhouse, the soft ball mound, trees, and Charlie Brown’s kite and baseball glove, all started to do the talking (or thinking!). The exhibition takes a closer look at Schulz’s use of anthropomorphism in 70 original Peanuts strips.

This exhibition is for everyone who remembers the endless grind of book reports, show and tell, and science and art projects in elementary school. School Projects follows the trials and tribulations of two of Schulz’s girl characters, Sally and Peppermint Patty, as they struggle through a typical school year.

Enjoy the holidays as celebrated by the Peanuts Gang! Halloween, Veterans Day, Christmas, New Year's Day, Easter, Mother’s Day, and more have all been observed in Peanuts strips. The 70 original strips in this exhibition feature the Great Pumpkin vigil, the Easter Beagle’s joyous romp, and ringing in the New Year with Snoopy and Woodstock.

Learn the fascinating history of the development of Schulz’s art into three-dimensional products, and the key role played by entrepreneur Connie Boucher and her company, Determined Productions, Inc., in developing the branding and merchandising of Peanuts products in the early 1960s.