The Schulz Museum Is More than Peanuts

Santa Rosa, CA, May 14, 2012:  Next to Luther Burbank, Charles M. Schulz, the creator of PEANUTS, is Santa Rosa's favorite son.  Schulz spent most of his adult life working in Santa Rosa where he organized sandlot baseball for his neighborhood and created the Redwood Empire Ice Arena for the benefit of the entire city.  The Charles M. Schulz Museum, adjacent to the arena, displays not only original work from the Peanuts cartoon strip, but also a recreation of Schulz' studio, his mural from the wall of his Colorado Spring's home, a history of cartooning and works by Japanese artist Yoshiteru Otani and by Christo.  The building was the work of the late San Francisco architect C. David Robinson and is as interesting as the collection.

Snoopy Labyrinth at museum entrance

 

 

 Morphing Snoopy by Yoshiteru Otani traces the evolution of the comic character.

Otani's tile mural of Lucy holding the football for Charlie Brown is composed of 3,588 comic strip images.

 

Baccarat Snoopy.

 

Billie Jean King's tennis outfit.

In PEANUTS, girls participated in a wide range of sports.  After Schulz met Billie Jean King, the strip actively promoted Title IX banning school discrimination in academics and athletics.
 

The recreation of Schulz' Santa Rosa studio.

 One exhibit featured the pens and ink used by Schulz in his work.

 

 In 1951, Schulz painted this mural on the wall of his daughter's bedroom in Colorado Springs.  Included are Charlie Brown, Snoopy and Patty.

 

 



 
 Christo's Running Fence through Sonoma County was featured in the Peanuts comic strip.  Twenty five years later, Christo wrapped Snoopy's Dog House for the museum.















 

Charlie Brown symbol on the men's room door.

Peanuts strip tiles run throughout the men's room.

 

The Kite Eating Tree is featured on the museum patio (left).  The Kite Eating Tree is dwarfed by a Redwood (right).