North to Launch this month!

The Northside has a new visitors guide, it's free to the public and drawn by some of Pittsburgh's best cartoonists! The guide, called North, features short comic vignettes of great Northside destinations such as The Warhol, PNC Park, and The National Aviary. North offers visitors and locals alike the opportunity to find new places to visit, or to be reminded of old favorites. The guide is available by request for personal use, or for mass distribution.

Funded by a grant from the Charm Bracelet Project, the ToonSeum partnered with 18 cartoonists (plus three writers) and 15 organizations to create a comprehensive visitors guide to the neighborhood. Each artist covered a popular venue or historically rich area. After countless pen strokes and hours of researching, North is ready to launch. Distributed free of charge to Pittsburgh hotels, visitors centers, schools, and more, the guide will allow Pittsburghers new and old to enjoy the experience that is our Northside.

Pittsburgh cartoonists gathered together to generously donate their talents to North. American Splendor contributor Ed Piskor, editorial cartoonist Rob Rogers, Paulette Poullet, and THE PLAIN JANES creator Jim Rugg are just a smattering of the talent involved in creating North.

Local businessman and avid comic fan Harold Behar generously donated his time as the Editor-in-Chief for North. It was under his guidance that the guide became a tribute to many venues on the Northside, big and small, famous and unknown. Behar made the purposeful decision to, ôcelebrate the famous sites of Pittsburgh and perhaps introduce readers to some of the lesser-known organizations, like Venture Outdoors and The Photo Antiquities Museum.

ToonSeum Executive Director Joe Wos is excited to see North come to fruition. A native Pittsburgher, Wos takes pride in his city, especially the under-noticed parts like the Northside. The ToonSeum has always made an effort to reach out to the cartoonists in our region, says Wos, This was a chance to showcase the incredible diversity of talent in this great city.

For review copies or art of North please e-mail Joe Wos at joe@toonseum.com.

Zippy's Pittsburgh Roadside Fest!

Zippy's Pittsburgh Roadside Fest! March 22nd
In celebration of their our exhibition featuring Zippy the Pinhead, the ToonSeum presents Zippy’s Pittsburgh Roadside Fest! The single-day festival will celebrate Pittsburgh roadside attractions with special guest’s filmmaker Rick Sebak, and Jennifer Baron and Greg Langel of the Pittsburgh Signs Project. The program will feature a slide show and presentation from Baron’s new book, Pittsburgh Signs Project: 250 Signs of Western Pennsylvania, and family-friendly vacation building activities. Sebak will be talking about roadside attractions and diners in Pittsburgh, showing clips from Kennywood Memories and other documentaries.
Families will have the opportunity to browse through maps and brochures to help them plan out fun summer activities all over South Western Pennsylvania. “With a wealth of family attractions in our region,” says ToonSeum Director Joe Wos, “families have a great opportunity to vacation while barely leaving their backyard. Both the fest and the Zippy exhibit showcase some of the quirkier attractions surrounding Pittsburgh.”
The Fest will take place at the Children's Museum on Sunday, March 22nd from noon to 5pm. Participation is free with paid entry into the Children’s Museum: $10 for adults, $9 for children aged 2-17 and for seniors, free for children under 2. The Children’s Museum is located on Allegheny Square on Pittsburgh’s Northside. Visit www.toonseum.org