Garfield Creator to Receive Governor’s Arts Award
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe creator of the popular Garfield cartoon is among the recipients of this year’s Governor’s Arts Awards. The Indiana Arts Commission says Jim Davis will receive the award, which recognizes significant contributions to and achievement in the arts, during a ceremony April 9.
Davis created Garfield in 1978 and the cartoon is read in nearly 2,100 newspapers throughout the world. He resides in Albany where he runs his company, Paws Inc., along with 40 artists and licensing administrators.
"It is indeed an honor to be an Indiana Governor’s Arts Award recipient," Davis said. "This recognition further validates cartooning as a legitimate art form, and, I might add, a uniquely American art form. Joseph Pulitzer first published a comic strip called The Yellow Kid in the New York World in 1895. That’s even before Garfield!"
Davis joins other recipients, including Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, choreographer David Hochoy and Dance Kaleidoscope, the American Pianists Association and philanthropists and art collectors Robert and Ellen Haan.
The IAC will present the awards alongside Governor Mike Pence and First Lady Karen Pence, who is an honorary chair of the Governor’s Arts Awards.