The Life and Art of Charles M. Schulz comes to Woodstock Art Gallery

The Peanuts gang. (Peanuts Worldwide, LLC Image)

Emily Stewart, Echo Correspondent

Peanuts Comics fans of all ages can explore the world of beloved characters and learn more about the creator behind it in Woodstock until early 2027.

The Woodstock Art Gallery (WAG) will feature the Life and Art of Charles M. Schulz travelling exhibition until Feb. 20, 2027. The exhibit features information about the Peanuts comic creator’s life, plus 30 comic strips, photographs, and quotes, along with interactive activities for all ages involving drawing, tracing, and reading.

“Everyone can get excited to engage with the Peanuts world through this exhibition,” said Danielle Hoovenaars, head of collections at the Woodstock Art Gallery.

Hoovenaars is thrilled the Life and Art of Charles M. Schulz has come down to Woodstock.

“We have been working on this project for well over a year and so to see it come to fruition and come to life in the gallery is really exciting,” she said.

The Life and Art of Charles M. Schulz is from the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center in Santa Rosa, California, and honours his legacy through the Peanuts comic strip, wit 18,000 strips from the 1950s until 2000, and other media featuring the beloved characters.

“With Snoopy, Charlie Brown, and the Peanuts gang, Schulz was able to explore so many happy emotional subjects like friendship, tolerance of one another, play, and childhood, and for these reasons it's been such an enduring and nostalgic topic for so many of us. Through the Peanuts Apple TV series, it's been exposing a whole new generation to Peanuts as well."

The exhibit had its official opening during the WAG Annual Open House on Oct. 17, the same day as Doors Open Woodstock. The Your Woodstock exhibition, which honours the 125th anniversary of the city, also opened that day and features local visual artists from Oxford County with pieces reflecting on what Woodstock means to them. In a way, the WAG celebrated the City of Woodstock and Woodstock, Snoopy’s canary friend, during its open house.

“That is a fun connection between the Life and Art of Charles M. Schulz Exhibition and Woodstock's 125th, of course, being the beloved Woodstock character in Peanuts and his playful relationship with Snoopy and Charlie Brown and the rest of the gang,” said Hoovernaars.

More information about WAG and its programming can be found online by visiting www.woodstockartgallery.ca.