Florida's 11 Editorial Cartoonists Share Spotlight in New Exhibit

By: E&P Staff The Florida A&M University chapter of Kappa Tau Alpha and the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists (AAEC) are presenting the work of Florida's 11 editorial cartoonists in "Disappearing Ink," an exhibit opening today in FAMU's School of Journalism and Graphic Communication gallery.

Gale Workman, faculty adviser for Kappa Tau Alpha and journalism professor at FAMU, told tallahassee.com she decided to stage the exhibit after visiting a political cartoon exhibit at Brevard Art Museum in Melbourne last fall. She secured a grant from the honor society and recruited Florida Today cartoonist Jeff Parker, an AAEC member.

"Editorial cartoonists have been the ones who traditionally watchdog politicians and the government," Workman told tallahassee.com. "Since the newspaper industry is downsizing, editorial cartoonists are losing their jobs on a daily basis and ink is disappearing. There are very few left."

The exhibit features cartoons by: Bruce Beattie of the Daytona Beach News Journal; Ed Gamble, The Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville; Chan Lowe, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Fort Lauderdale; Doug MacGregor, The News-Press, Fort Myers; Andy Marlette, Pensacola News Journal; Jim Morin, The Miami Herald; Jeff Parker, Florida Today; Dana Summers, The Orlando Sentinel; Jake Fuller, Artizans Syndicate; Ed Hall, Artizans Syndicate; and freelance cartoonist Rob Smith Jr.

Fuller, Gamble, Marlette, Parker and Smith will be on hand today for the opening, and will give a talk on the future of editorial cartooning.

Parker told tallahassee.com, "I hope people will get a little more insight, especially in light of what happened with the New York Post Obama cartoon. Hopefully people see that not all of us are loose cannons."