Artway's For Better or For Worse® exhibit

From 29 September to 26 October 2001, Artway featured For Better or For Worse, by Canadian Lynn Johnston. Then in Bramalea City Centre, the gallery show featured the original artwork for hundreds of Johnston's daily strips and Sunday panels.

For Better or For Worse® Exhibit at Artway
Reuben Award Winning Cartoonist, Lynn Johnston will exhibit in Artway this October

Visual Arts Brampton is proud to announce that our first Feature Artist Exhibit in Artway will display originals of For Better or For Worse comic strips by Lynn Johnston, a 1992 Order of Canada recipient.

The show will feature original artwork for the daily and Sunday format strips, seen in over 2000 newspapers worldwide, including The Toronto Star.

The exhibit runs September 29 to October 26, 2001.

The Artway cases can easily exhibit nearly 200 of Lynn's originals. We will have mainly her dailies represented but will have the black and white and colourized weekend comics. We hope to have some of Lynn's books and merchandise including her April dolls and "Ned", a unique window fixture.

For Better or For Worse is read in 23 different countries worldwide and translated into 8 languages.

The Reuben Award is cartooning's highest honour, often referred to as the Best Picture Oscar for the funny pages. Nominated 5 times for the award, Lynn finally won her Reuben in 1986. She was the 1st ever woman winner, 1st ever Canadian winner, and the youngest winner of the award. Lynn Johnston's FBoFW recieved nomination for a Pulitzer Prize in 1993. The family in the comic strip and the cartoon series are the Pattersons. At the head of the family are Elly and John, who have three children, Michael, the eldest, Elizabeth (Liz), the middle kid and April, the grade-school aged child.

• Lynn Johnston Biography
• For Better or For Worse exhibit announcement

Lynn Johnston's For Better or For Worse Exhibit, cumulative review

An honest review of the exhibit, by VAB Expressions newsletter co-editor Nicholas Moreau.

Well, it was a great show. For those who saw it, at least. Lynn and her assistants in Corbeil, including her excutive director Nancy Vincent, worked with Visual Arts Brampton to compile a great compliation show.

Not only did it feature her originals that are seen daily in The Toronto Star and nearly 2000 other newspapers, but some of her photocopies coloured in for her "inker" to digitally paint and the prints of those actual references. She also sent down her complete collection of books, dolls, mugs, shirts and other tie-in promotions, which was a nice reminder of how long she, or the Patterson family, has been entertaining us, 22 years to be exact.

But, promotion wasn't the greatest. Bramalea City Centre helped out providing full-colour signage for the show at key, high-traffic areas of the mall. The Brampton Guardian gave us a well written retrospective of the comic strip, covering all the bases, even the disappointing fact that the strip will only run until Lynn's contract runs out -- 2007. Here at VAB we sent out the group's first ever e-mail press release, covering all the vital information for GTA, provincial and national newspapers, magazines, radio shows, websites and news and informational television programs could do a blurb on our exhibit.

Well, better luck next time. To start off, though there was response to The Brampton Guardian's article, the retrospective was buried in the middle of the paper. That was to be expected, as it was in the Entertainment section, but front page would have been a more fitting tribute for the most published cartoonist of our times.

The press release were extremely depressing. Forty-two media outlets recieved the news. Count them. 42. After further proding by president and curator Keith Moreau, we got a small listing in with the rest of the art shows. Fine, yet they pay to print her strip daily, making it the largest of their dailies, first in their Saturday colour pages. You'd think they'd want to highlight it for their own self-promotion. The National Post had an excuse at least, they dropped their great Arts and Entertainment section right as the show went in.

To make up for it all, at least the mall noticed more steady traffic flow into Artway. That only relief from the sorrow of time wasted in organizing such a big event. This proves one thing though. 22 years, 2000 papers, 8 languages, a TV show and specials spun off, over 23 books, 6 videos, a Pulitzer Prize nomination, the Order of Canada and a Reuben Award for best published cartoon of the year doesn't mean much to the big moguls. Doesn't do too much to put Artway on the map either. Better luck next year.

Here's my optimistic, pre-exhibition website promotion that you may have seen.
As of June 28th, it was confirmed. One of the most well known comic strips in the world, For Better or For Worse will be on display at Artway.

Visual Arts Brampton president and Artway curator Keith Moreau says he is that Lynn agreed. He says that this show will not only be a crowd pleaser, but also will put Artway on the map.

Originally, Lynn was set to be our main Laughlines cartoon art show exhibitor. But, due to delays that were experienced along the way, it was rescheduled to be from September 28 to October 26, 2001. This October timeslot is set to regularly be a feature artist event.

All eight of the cases at Artway's location between A&Ws and Sportchek are to be completely filled with the best that Lynn has to offer in her daily strip, seen in over 2000 papers world-wide.

Lynn has won the Order of Canada and the Reubens' Award, cartooning highest honour. She has also been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.

For Better or For Worse® is a registered trademark of Lynn Johnston. All images from For Better or For Worse® are copyrighted.