CLS: Comic Strips & Animation
Comic strips and animation can be funny, informative and thought-provoking. These presentations reveal the inspiration and creative process behind some of your favorites.
Jenny Campbell
“Aging with an Attitude: A Cartoonist on Becoming Her Own Demographic Group”
Tuesday, Aug 8, 10:30 a.m. | Orchestra Hall
Campbell will discuss her 35-year career as a cartoonist, and how she got into this business, with a heavy emphasis on her syndicated strip, “Flo & Friends.” Most specifically, she will talk about how, now that she is in her 60s, doing a daily and Sunday cartoon strip about senior citizens has gotten very personal. A power-point will coincide with samples of her work along the way.
“Strip Cartooning and Gag Writing”
Tuesday, Aug 8, 3:30 p.m. | Orchestra Hall
More information coming soon.
Campbell has been a freelance cartoonist and a children’s illustrator for almost 35 years. Most notably, Campbell writes and draws, “Flo & Friends,” a daily and Sunday strip featuring an ensemble cast of senior citizens that is distributed by Creators Syndicate. Currently, “Flo & Friends” is published in newspapers from Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, to Newark, New Jersey, and has a loyal internet following.
In addition to the cartoon strip, Campbell also has been a prolific children’s book illustrator, with more than 30 picture books to her credit, including several that have won national awards. Her other work in kids’ lit includes hundreds of K-5 textbooks and a myriad of other children’s publications, as well, including Highlights for Children, for whom she was a monthly contributor for more than a dozen years. Her work in children’s books also has made her a popular speaker, who often takes her interactive art and literacy program to schools and libraries throughout the Midwest, and occasionally nationwide.
In addition, Campbell also is the principal cartoonist for Outside the Lines Creative Group (otlcreativegroup.com) which supplies innovative cartoon communications to corporations and organizations across the country, ranging from manufacturing to healthcare to national parks.
Campbell, an avid animal lover, also is a prolific contributor to multiple animal welfare organizations. Her clients started with Rescue Village, Geauga County’s Humane Society, when it was built in 2001. She created the artwork that was part of the shelter’s branding and has continued to contribute cartoons for fund-raising and editorial materials. A 200-page collection of her pro bono RV cartoons over the past 20+ years will be published by the shelter in early 2023 as a fundraiser. That relationship led to many other clients in animal welfare. Currently, her artwork graces transport vans for PetFix Northeast Ohio, the ASPCA’s Humane Alliance and the Cleveland City Kennel. Her other work in animal welfare includes the cartoon dog and cat on the state of Ohio’s specialty “Pet Plate” license plate, and a new Pitbull “Dog Friendly” plate that was introduced in early September 2022.
Before becoming a fulltime illustrator, Campbell was an award-winning newspaper writer for 13 years, first for The Arizona Republic in Phoenix; then the Pasadena Star-News and The Orange County Register in Southern California. Following in her father’s footsteps, she was a sixth-generation journalist when she graduated from Arizona State University with a BA in journalism in 1979.
Campbell lives in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, with her partner of 33 years, Amy Sancetta, a retired Pulitzer Prize-winning AP photographer. She shares her studio on three wooded acres with Tanner and Grayson, two enthusiastic hound mixes; and Rizz, a 10-year-old formerly feral tabby who is not amused by the pups. All were adopted from Rescue Village.
