The Northwest Museum of Cartoon Arts recently opened in Portland, Oregon, and they are kicking things off with The Pacific Northwest in Comics exhibit. The celebration of cartooning and comics industry professionals from the Pacific Northwest is curated by Kate Kelp-Stebbins, the University of Oregon’s Director of Comics and Cartoon Studies.

“From individual artists and collective studios to major publishers and animation studios, from self-published zines and webcomics to bestselling graphic novels and major motion pictures, the Pacific Northwest has an incredible arts culture and is recognized as one of the most vital comics hubs in the United States,” per the exhibit overview.

The exhibit showcases the earliest creators who worked in cartooning, the indie publishers and artists that influenced modern comics, and the new voices that are having an impact on the latest comics. It “demonstrates a commitment to multiculturalism and diversity” by integrating the art of people of color and LGBTQ+ creators into the main exhibit, rather than placing that art in separate sections.

Longtime residents of the Pacific Northwest featured in the exhibit include Rupert Kinnard, Matt Wagner, Aron Nels Steinke, Lark Pien, Shannon Wheeler, Mike and Laura Allred, Charles Johnson, Michael Avon Oeming, and Ryan Alexander Tanner. To showcase the work of writers from Portland – like Kelly Sue DeConnick, Matt Fraction, Brian Michael Bendis, Mark Russell, Jeff Parker, David F. Walker, and Diana Shutz – the museum will provide binders with their comic scripts and finished comics that attendees can read.

There will be a section dedicated to the Helioscope cartoonist studio and the graphic novels, comics, webcomics, and more created there. Another area is dedicated to Crucial Comix and their new book, Cartoonists For Palestine, an anthology that “embraces social justice, solidarity, equality, and unity of any and all kinds.” Reproductions of Joe Sacco’s War on Gaza will be displayed.

The exhibit also highlights the next generation of creators from the Pacific Northwest, with everything from traditional pen and ink work to digital productions to other artistic mediums like sewing.

The Northwest Museum of Cartoon Arts is located at 322 NW 8th Avenue in Portland, Oregon. The museum is open Wednesdays through Sundays at 11 AM to 5 PM; general admission is only $10.