Feb 18, 2014 A visit to the Charles M. Schulz Museum
On Saturday I went to the Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, CA, for the first time in more than a decade. It’s a classy, understated tribute to the giant of comic strips and popular culture in general, with landscaping that includes a labyrinth shaped like the World Famous Super Beagle in front and a Kite-Eating Tree in back. While the interior architecture and design boast a clean and airy Mid Century Modern look, the mood is very casual and homelike–in tune with the recreated office with drawing board where Sparky (the Minnesota-born cartoonist was nicknamed after the horse in Barney Google) drew his strips, as well as a mural that features primitive renderings of Charlie Brown and Snoopy painted for a nursery and relocated from his Colorado Springs residence.
Other items in the upstairs area include artifacts from Schulz’s involvement in hockey, a selected history of comic strips, and a timeline that puts Schulz’s body of work in cultural and historical context. The NASA photos and artifacts were particularly interesting to me. The downstairs theater shows programs and interviews, too. I saw parts of a Charlie Rose interview that revealed both Schulz’s self-deprecating humor and ego.
I love Schulz not only because I grew up reading his daily comic and collecting his paperbacks but because he had a brilliant mind that introduced conceits that have entered the popular vocabulary and penetrated the public consciousness. Security Blanket, The Great Pumpkin, The Kite-Eating Tree–neuroses of the human condition have never been so cute. And not only was Schulz a skilled storyteller but he was a true artist. Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, and Hello Kitty have always been drawn by committee and owned by corporations; Snoopy and friends were drawn by Schulz’s hand and Peanuts is a family business to this day.
The Schulz Museum was largely spearheaded by Sparky’s wife Jeannie to carry on her late husband’s legacy, and the institution’s main attraction is its collection of art. The exhibits on the first floor are divided into two areas: the Changing Gallery and Strip Rotation Gallery. Each is organized by theme but presents Schulz’s work in a completely different manner.
Until April 27, the Changing Gallery features “Starry, Starry Night.” More existential than astronomical in nature, the conversations and ruminations of the Peanuts Gang are enlarged and arranged artfully in an installation setting. While Charlie Brown, Linus, and Lucy throwing rocks at the stars effortlessly captures both the naive playfulness of kids as well as the reckless potential for destruction in human nature, it’s Snoopy’s cousin Spike who turns out to be the deepest thinker, alone in the clear desert night.
The Strip Rotation Gallery features original art both mounted on walls and under plexiglass. Because my visit coincided with Valentine’s Day, much of the work centered on Charlie Brown and the Little Red Haired Girl, as well as Sally Brown and her Sweet Babboo. “Heartbreak in Peanuts,” indeed. What’s particularly striking is not only the timelessness of the characters and storytelling but the precision and power of Schulz’s inks. Very rarely do you see pencil or Liquid Paper, and the shakiness of his lines doesn’t reflect age as much as soul.
Wandering eyes are rewarded by random installations, too. I particularly enjoyed the column of Japanese peep-boxes underneath a stairwell. Fun!
Schulz isn’t the only artist who is showcased at the museum. Japanese artist and Snoopy Town mainstay Yoshiteru Otani combined more than 43 layers of wood to create the wall sculpture Morphing Snoopy, which depicts the evolution of Sparky’s pet into Charlie Brown’s pet–working the Flying Ace, World-Famous Writer, and four-legged Snoopy into the various stages.
Otani’s Peanuts Tile Mural is a conceptual piece that puts Schulz’s work in context, communicating the scale of making a daily comic for nearly 50 years via more than 3,588 strips printed on tile and arranged in the famous image of Lucy pulling the football away from Charlie Brown. I love how the tiles are also used in the restrooms–which have cool graphics on the doors, as well.
Also on display is a piece donated by Christo and Jeanne-Claude. Wrapped Snoopy House was donated by the the art duo upon the museum’s opening in 2002. The European installation artists and American cartoonist had met when Running Fence was installed in Sonoma and Marin counties. Christo presented the idea to the local board, which Schulz belonged to, and they became friends and mutual admirers. Christo was the subject of a Peanuts strip in 1978, and the gag of a wrapped doghouse eventually became a reality.
Across the way from the Schulz Museum are the older destinations of Beagle pilgrims. The Redwood Ice Arena was built by Schulz’s first wife because the Minnesota-born cartoonist was such a big hockey fan. The rink is not only the site of a coffee shop, The Warm Puppy, where Sparky would have breakfast and lunch daily, but the start of a a thriving skating culture in Santa Rosa. Schulz hosted holiday ice-skating programs as well as senior tournaments regularly. The stained-glass Snoopy windows and Snoopy-decorated Zamboni are pretty cool, too.
Next to Snoopy’s Home Ice is the skate shop and gift store. I love the ’70s style carpet art on the walls that lead to the upstairs collection of memorabilia (the original museum, really). American Snoopy goods often pale in comparison to the gems one might find in Japan’s Snoopy Town, for example, but collectors can spend a lot of time and money at this location because mixed in the clothing racks and piles of accessories are one-offs and samples from Japanese brands such as Beams and Uniqlo. I even spotted some housewares made in conjunction with KAWS. Too expensive for me, but wow.
Hardcore fans might want to visit the shop multiple times during their visit because goods are added to the inventory all the time. I went back to the shop after the museum closed and discovered a T-shirt with the Peanuts gang holding bags full of vinyl from Tower Records Japan that wasn’t there before lunch. Record shopping and Peanuts are two of my favorite things, and I still can’t believe such a design exists.
Visit the Schulz Museum at 2301 Hardies Lane in Santa Rosa, California, about an hour’s drive from San Francisco. Don’t forget to check Snoopy’s Home Ice for open skating times when you plan your trip, and maybe I’ll see you there!