Pulitzer-Winning Cartoonists to Draw Inspiration from Presidential Race

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Three of the nation's most prominent editorial artists will offer their views on the power of editorial cartoons to provide incisive and insightful commentary on contemporary affairs during the panel discussion "Drawn and Quartered: Editorial Artists Look at the 2004 Elections" at 6 p.m. Wednesday, October 13 in Giffels Auditorium, Old Main. The public is invited.

Tony Auth of The Philadelphia Inquirer, Clay Bennett of the Christian Science Monitor and Ann Telnaes of Tribune Media Services have all won Pulitzer Prizes. Moderating the discussion will be Gerald Jordan, UA journalism professor, and Dusty Higgins, journalism graduate student. Each panelist will offer opening remarks, followed by questions from the moderators and the audience. The artists will have equipment for showing their work and demonstrating their drawing techniques.

"I've been a fan of editorial cartoons since I started reading newspapers," said Jordan. "In fact, that was my introduction to the editorial pages. I've admired the work of the greatest ones, and I'm really excited to see some of the most talented of this generation visit our university."

Well-known regional editorialists will discuss the art and politics of cartooning the next day at 12:30 p.m. in Room 102 of Kimpel Hall before students in the "Media and Society" class. The presentation, open to the public, will feature John Deering, chief editorial cartoonist for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and winner of the National Press Foundation's Berryman Award; Vic Harville of Stephens Media Group, whose works have appeared in Newsweek, The Washington Post and USA Today; Lee Judge, longtime political cartoonist for The Kansas City Star; Bruce Plante, former Arkansas Democrat and Arkansas Traveler cartoonist who now produces "Born Lucky," his own syndicated cartoon; and Dusty Higgins, UA graduate student who was named a Mark of Excellence national winner at the convention of the Society of Professional Journalists, held in New York in September.

Auth, staff editorial cartoonist for The Philadelphia Inquirer since 1971, has won five Overseas Press Club Awards and the 2002 Thomas Nast Prize (http://www.ucomics.com/tonyauth/). A long list of awards for Clay Bennett includes the Scripps Howard Foundation National Journalism Award in 2002 and the National Headliner Award for Editorial Cartooning in 2004 (http://www.claybennett.com/). Ann Telnaes' editorial cartoons have appeared in The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Le Monde, Newsday and The New York Times. Her awards include the National Press Foundation's Berryman Award in 2003 and the National Headliner Award for Editorial Cartoons (http://www.anntelnaes.com/).

An exhibit featuring the works of the artists will be on display October 1 - 31 in the Walton Reading Room in Mullins Library.

"This well-known group represents today's most influential editorial artists," said Jordan. "Their work is marked by wit and a keen understanding of current issues. Presidential elections provide them with a wealth of good material."

The program, organized by Jordan and Higgins, is sponsored by the Walter J. Lemke Department of Journalism, the Arkansas Humanities Council, the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, the UA Office of University Relations and the UA Department of History.