Welcome to the Peanuts gallery
California museum celebrates comic-strip creator Schulz and his work of 50 years
SANTA ROSA, CALIF.— Ask people to name the most common export of Sonoma County and they will probably say wine. But the correct answer is Peanuts — as in Charlie Brown and the gang.
The comic-strip creator, Charles Schulz, was born in Minnesota but made his home and career here.
Santa Rosa celebrates its favourite son with pride — from the Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport, whose logo features Snoopy as the Red Baron, to the larger-than-life Peanuts character statues at every corner.
The city is also home to the Charles M. Schulz Museum, a place for anyone who ever tore through a Saturday paper just to get to the comics or who never missed a Peanuts animated TV special.
Schulz published his last comic in 2000 (and died the next day), but the 50-year body of work lives on in syndication. Plus the characters are stars of the licensing world, not to mention the 2015 feature film, The Peanuts Movie, which comes out on DVD on Feb. 12.
Two years after Schulz’s death, the museum opened on land near his studio. The modern 27,000-squarefoot building is a design masterpiece. Its lines echo Schulz’s steady pen and there are subtle tributes to him everywhere. The ceiling is made up of small wooden squares, like a comic strip. The herringbone wooden floor is reminiscent of Charlie Brown’s famous zigzag-patterned shirt.
The spacious entrance gives way to a light-filled two-storey gallery of art. There’s a mosaic featuring almost 10 years of four-panel strips (that’s 3,580 comics) arranged to form a huge image of Lucy holding the football for Charlie Brown.
The main floor contains the strip gallery, a rotating collection of 100 comic strips, usually grouped by theme. “This is the heart and soul of the museum,” says Schulz’s widow Jean, who is director of the board and stops by daily.
Up on the second floor, exhibits centre on Schulz the artist. His studio has been recreated with drawing table, leather chair, wall art and mementos. “For a few years, that space bothered me,” recalls Jean. “It was empty to me.”
Then she remembered video clips from a 1963 documentary that showed Schulz drawing and talking about his art. Those now run on a vintage TV.
The next room includes paraphernalia from Schulz’s early life in Minnesota and his time in the Second World War.
For those who really want to sink into Peanuts nostalgia, head down to the 100-seat theatre where a continuous stream of animated specials (there were 40), documentaries and interviews plays all day.
There’s a small gift shop, but those looking for a wider assortment of products will find them at the adjacent Redwood Empire Ice Arena (a.k.a., Snoopy’s Home Ice), which Schulz rebuilt for the community in 1969.
Rent a pair of skates and glide around the indoor rink for an hour, then sip a hot chocolate at the Warm Puppy Café. Schulz ate breakfast there almost every morning and his table is permanently reserved. The rink and museum make up the Schulz Campus, but for Jean, they are more than the physical spaces.
“I love talking to people and hearing how the Peanuts characters helped them out of rough times,” she says.
“I’ll hear from people who had scoliosis and had to stay home for a year, but that the Peanuts kept them sane. Tons of kids who fell out of sync needed the solace of Charlie Brown. Our mantra here is to make this museum represent what Sparky (Schulz’s childhood nickname) would be like.” Admission to the museum was subsidized by Visit Santa Rosa, which did not review or approve this story.