Can you Draw This? Educating America’s Cartoon and Comic Artists

Join award-winning illustrator Ryan Hartley Smith and NRM Chief Curator Stephanie Haboush Plunkett for lively talk about the art of cartoons and comics. The discussion will focus on the dramatic evolution of the field and the resulting changes in how cartooning is taught –from the introduction of the popular Famous Artists Cartoon Course, in 1956, to the diverse stylistic and storytelling approaches of our time. Hartley Smith will illuminate cartooning’s rich history and lead participants through hands-on exercises with cartoon art—no drawing experience required!

This special program is presented in conjunction with All for Laughs: The Artists of the Famous Cartoon Course, highlighting the Norman Rockwell Museum’s permanent collection featuring original drawings from the popular correspondence course. The exhibition features the work of such comic masters Rube Goldberg, Al Capp, Milton Caniff, Willard Mullin, and others.

Ryan Hartley Smith is a prolific artist and associate professor of illustration at the SUNY Fashion Institute of Technology MFA Illustration Program. A Rockwell Center for American Visual Studies Fellow, he has created illustrations for many noted clients, including AmeriCorps Public Allies, BuzzFeed News, The Juilliard Music and Technology Center, The NYC Department of Transportation Art Program, The Southern Poverty Law Center, and The Washington Post, among others. He is a 2025 medal recipient in the Society of Illustrators’ annual competition for his project “see you at riis,” a public art commission he recently completed in the Gateway National Recreation Area.

$25 (Includes Museum Admission)
Free for Members and kids & teens