Signe Wilkinson has an unusual moniker--the "Pennsylvania state vegetable substitute." Legend has it that she was awarded the title by a former speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1989. Why or how this came about is a mystery. Easier to understand is the award for Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning. Wilkinson was the first woman to receive the award in 1992. Other awards have followed.
Wilkinson decided to become an editorial cartoonist while a reporter. Caricatures of the people she was interviewing kept developing in her notebooks. Plus, the life of an editorial cartoonist involved much less spelling, according to a bio on www.cartoonistgroup.com. Since 1985, Wilkinson has reflected on news, politics and the current state of things as an editorial cartoonist for the Philadelphia Daily News.
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"Downsize Industries" by Signe Wilkinson, 2012. Digital print, 10 1/8 x 9 1/4 inches. © Signe Wilkinson, Philadelphia Daily News, 2012. Courtesy Hofstra University Museum.
"School Test-Taking Basics" by Signe Wilkinson, 2012. Digital print, 9 1/2 x 15 3/4 inches. Courtesy Hofstra University Museum.
© Signe Wilkinson, Philadelphia Daily News, 2012
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BASIC FACTS: Signe Wilkinson is an award-winning staff cartoonist at the Philadelphia Daily News. Awards include the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning, the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award, the Overseas Press Club Thomas Nast Award and the National Press Foundation’s Berryman Award for Editorial Cartoons. She was the president of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists from 1994 to 1995.
Wilkinson's collection of cartoons One Nation, Under Surveillance was published in 2005. Her syndicated daily comic strip, Family Tree, ran from 2007 to 2011 through United Media. Recent work can be found at editorialcartoonists.com and www.cartoonistgroup.com.
Wilkinson's work is part of the group exhibition "Political Slant: Editorial Cartoons" at Hofstra University Museum on view through Dec 21, 2012.
"Political Slant: Editorial Cartoons" presents artwork from five political cartoonists from around the country. Exhibiting are Pulitzer Prize winner Walt Handelsman of Newsday, Pulitzer Prize winner Mike Keefe (formerly of the Denver Post), Steve Kelley (formerly of the New Orleans Times-Picayune), Jimmy Margulies of the North New Jersey Record and Pulitzer Prize winner Signe Wilkinson of the Philadelphia Daily News. The exhibition also includes historic cartoons by Thomas Nast.
The Hofstra University Museum is located at 112 Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY 11549-1000. www.hofstra.edu.
RELATED STORIES: Hamptons Art Hub: The Funny Pages - Mike Keefe. Published Oct 21, 2012.
Hamptons Art Hub: The Funny Pages - Jimmy Margulies. Published Oct 28, 2012.
Hamptons Art Hub: Art in a Political State of Mind. Published Nov 6, 2012.
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