Annenberg School displays editorial cartoons from Pulitzer-winning artists

Over 150 editorial cartoons and artworks are on display at the Annenberg School for Communication.

The exhibition — “Witty and Gritty” — opened on Sept. 17 and will remain on view throughout the 2026-27 academic year. It draws from two gifts the Annenberg School received last year containing more than 20,000 works by artists Tony Auth and Signe Wilkinson, both of whom are Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonists.

Annenberg School Head of Archives Samantha Summerbell led the curation process, which entailed spending about a year reviewing the collections. In an interview, she explained that she organized the exhibition around seven themes — with some sections tied to research at the Annenberg School and others focusing on Philadelphia or the United States’ 250th anniversary.

Summerbell emphasized that she wanted to “identify relevant themes that would be applicable and interesting to visitors who are coming to Annenberg.”

She initially selected about 1,000 cartoons from the 20,000 and then narrowed that group to fit the exhibition space. The works currently on display will be replaced with another set in the spring. Although the main themes will stay the same, the subjects within each section will change.

According to Summerbell, some selections grew from the school’s research. She explained former Annenberg School Dean George Gerbner’s work on television violence informed one section, while the school’s focus on health communication influenced her decision to include cartoons about smoking.

For her, the exhibition is a way to bring visitors into the archives and introduce them to materials they might use in their own research. Beyond cartoons, the collections include sketchbooks and correspondence that offer a closer look at how the artists worked.

Summerbell expressed hope that students from outside the Annenberg School will visit and consider using the collections, regardless of their major.

“We’re in a much more digital age and communication is very different, but these cartoons are still very relevant and still very powerful at conveying these kinds of messages,” she said.

Wilkinson, who is now retired, worked for the Philadelphia Daily News after holding a cartoonist position at the San Jose Mercury News. She began her career selling freelance cartoons and used that work to build a portfolio before applying for newspaper jobs.

In an interview, she described the exhibition as a “visual history lesson.” She added that she wanted the selections to make sense to visitors who might not know the events that originally prompted the cartons.

For her, cartooning combines an interest in politics, art, and “not having a nine-to-five job.” Rather than relying on references to a particular moment, Wilkinson created cartoons about issues that have returned in different forms over time. She expressed hope that students will recognize connections between the older works and what they see happening in the world today. 

“A lot of the issues that I cartooned about are still on the burner,” she said.

Summerbell came up with the title “Witty and Gritty” while considering a name that would reflect the exhibition’s connections with Philadelphia.

“I like rhythm. I like alliteration. I think it sticks in your head a little bit more,” she said. “And ‘Witty and Gritty’ is highly relevant because it’s gritty — it’s Philadelphia, and there’s a lot of Philly throughout this exhibit.”

The “witty,” Summerbell said, is because “Tony and Signe are just so insightful in their drawings.”

Wilkinson added that the title reflects how humor enters her work, describing the process as “looking at the gritty and finding a core of humor” to comment on something happening in the world.

Her ideas often began with reading the morning newspaper. A phrase someone said could suggest an image that became the basis for a cartoon, Wilkinson explained.

As a cartoonist, she emphasized, “you have to keep your eye on the world as it changes.”