fbpx
  • Subscribe & Support
  • Sign up for Free Newsletter
  • Print Edition
    • Get Home Delivery
    • Read ePaper Online
    • Newsstand Locations
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Contact
    • Advertise
    • Customer Support
    • Submit A News Tip
    • Where’s My Paper?
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Free HV1 Trial
Hudson Valley One
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s Happening
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Featured Events
      • Art
      • Books
      • Kids
      • Lifestyle & Wellness
      • Food & Drink
      • Music
      • Nature
      • Stage & Screen
  • Opinions
    • Letters
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Help Wanted
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Podcast
  • Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s Happening
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Featured Events
      • Art
      • Books
      • Kids
      • Lifestyle & Wellness
      • Food & Drink
      • Music
      • Nature
      • Stage & Screen
  • Opinions
    • Letters
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Help Wanted
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Podcast
  • Log In
No Result
View All Result
Hudson Valley One
No Result
View All Result

R. R. Pollak exhibit of comic strip art opens August 3 at Ellenville Library

by Ann Hutton
August 5, 2019
in Art & Music
0
R. R. Pollak exhibit of comic strip art opens August 3 at Ellenville Library

Comic strip fans of all generations will have the unique opportunity to check out the history of the genre at the Ellenville Public Library and Museum and meet our own hometown cartoonist at the opening reception on Saturday, August 3. R. Robert Pollak will exhibit 35 or so classic works of cartoon art; some examples of his own creations, like Ellen’s Adventures at the Shadowland; and many classic strips such as Buck Rogers, Brenda Starr, On Stage, Steve Roper, Robin Malone, Dateline Danger, Winnie Winkle, Dickie Dare, Little Iodine and Flash Gordon, all drawn by the greats.

In fact, Pollak may possess the ultimate comic strip collection in his personal archives. The author, educator, illustrator, art director and member of the New York Cartoonists’ Hall of Fame has been clipping his favorites from both daily and Sunday newspapers for decades. “A Cavalcade of American Newspaper Comic Strip Art” celebrates this iconic artform, as well as the community that nurtured him. “My family’s lived here since about 1956. I went to school here, and then I went to Pratt Institute in Brooklyn for illustration and art direction.”

After graduation, Pollak first plied his craft in visual merchandising in New York City, then as a corporate art director, then as a manager in a Fifth Avenue store. “Then I became a Common Branch teacher for fifth grade – math, English, social studies – teaching all subjects, including art. I always brought art and cartoons and interesting things into the classroom for the kids to get excited about. And because of my love for cartoons from early childhood, when I started working on different projects with the students, such as letter-writing and language arts skills, we wrote to many of the cartoon artists that I knew. They became our pen pals in class. A lot of my students got to meet famous cartoonists when they came to my school and did demonstrations. One was Fred Lasswell, who did Barney Google and Snuffy Smith. One of those Snuffy Smiths will be in the show.

“Every Sunday paper I could get, I started clipping them at the age of 13. So, from 1966 to 1970, when I went to college, I have clips in albums. A lot of these people, I was fortunate to meet.” He mentions Milton Caniff, who created Terry and the Pirates and Steve Canyon, with whom Pollak became good friends. “And Dale Messick, the creator of Brenda Starr, Reporter. She inspired me to write and draw, and to think about cliffhangers. My students wrote to her and she wrote back, sending every single student a picture and a note. She was wonderful.”

His love for cartoons and pen-and-ink work spilled over into hero worship of the artists who created them. “When I was a kid, the cartoonists who had big characters were like celebrities in the ‘50s and ‘60s. Later on, when the newspapers started to shrink, so did the space for comic strips. It still exists. A friend who’s also in the National Cartoon Society, Joe Staton [who lives in Kingston], draws the Dick Tracy strip; it’s online and still in several newspapers that carry adventure strips.

“The last few years I was teaching, I started doing Ellen’s Adventures at the Shadowland for the Ellenville Journal, now the Shawangunk Journal.” His connection to the town and the theater – where he saw his first movie, 101 Dalmatians – comes through in his work. “Ellen is an actress from New York, but she comes to Ellenville and has all these adventures. Creating my own comic strip was a homage to all the old cartoonists I’d met and to the town of Ellenville. Ellen meets aliens, and they go back in time and into the future. This strip was in the Shawangunk Journal off and on for about five years.”

Pollak penned three separate books and a coloring book of her adventures, now all compiled by Red Stylo Media in a graphic novel, which shows up at big shows like Comic Con in New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago and the National Cartoonists’ Society’s annual festival in Huntington Beach. And he’s as enthusiastic about exhibiting from his extensive collection as he is creating his stories and characters.

“A Cavalcade of American Newspaper Comic Strip Art” will be on exhibit at the library gallery for three months, beginning August 3 and running until the end of October. Library hours are Monday through Wednesday from 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., Thursday and Friday until 6 p.m., and Saturday until 3 p.m. Don’t miss it.

American Newspaper Comic Strip Art opening, Saturday, August 3, 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m., Ellenville Public Library & Museum, 40 Center St., Ellenville; (845) 647-5530, http://eplm.org/museum.

Before you click away... grab a free month of HV1. Get unlimited access. Get the news you've been missing. Get connected to your community. Keep local journalism alive at $5/mo., or cancel anytime. And enjoy summer!
- Geddy Sveikauskas, Publisher
Previous Post

Minnewaska hosts first Forest Bathing Workshop

Next Post

Catalyst well balanced at Maverick

Ann Hutton

Related Posts

Amanda Palmer returns for O+ Festival benefit concert
Art & Music

Amanda Palmer returns for O+ Festival benefit concert

August 7, 2022
Free Flamenco performance at Elting Library
Art & Music

Free Flamenco performance at Elting Library

August 6, 2022
WFF photo exhibit accompanies world premiere of The Picture Taker
Art & Music

WFF photo exhibit accompanies world premiere of The Picture Taker

August 6, 2022
Catskill Mountain Railroad twilight train rides into the past
Art & Music

Catskill Mountain Railroad twilight train rides into the past

August 5, 2022
Setting Sun rises again at Widow Jane Mine
Art & Music

Setting Sun rises again at Widow Jane Mine

August 5, 2022
Butterflies & Blooms celebrates pollinators through art and music
Art & Music

Butterflies & Blooms celebrates pollinators through art and music

August 5, 2022
Next Post
Spirit of the Maverick leads to innovations in its second century

Catalyst well balanced at Maverick

Trending News

  • Police: Gun pulled on Domino’s pizza deliverer in Saugerties 2.7k views
  • Voting on August 23, here’s what you need to know 2k views
  • Developers pitch plan to turn former box factory into a three-story hotel 1.5k views
  • Kingston declares Drought Emergency with watering restrictions, boil water near Stony Run 1.5k views
  • Ulster County reports first confirmed case of Monkeypox 796 views







Latest HV1 Podcast

Weather

Kingston
◉
79°
Partly Cloudy
5:56 am8:07 pm EDT
Feels like: 84°F
Wind: 3mph S
Humidity: 83%
Pressure: 30.04"Hg
UV index: 0
MonTueWed
95/75°F
90/66°F
86/68°F
Weather forecast Kingston, New York ▸

Ulster County COVID-19 Active Cases

Subscribe

Independent. Local. Substantive. Subscribe now.

  • Subscribe & Support
  • Sign up for Free Newsletter
  • Print Edition
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Contact
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Free HV1 Trial

© 2022 Ulster Publishing

No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s Happening
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Featured Events
      • Art
      • Books
      • Kids
      • Lifestyle & Wellness
      • Food & Drink
      • Music
      • Nature
      • Stage & Screen
  • Opinions
    • Letters
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Help Wanted
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Podcast
  • Subscribe & Support
  • Contact Us
    • Customer Support
    • Advertise
    • Submit A News Tip
  • Print Edition
    • Read ePaper Online
    • Newsstand Locations
    • Where’s My Paper
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Log In
  • Free HV1 Trial

© 2022 Ulster Publishing