Calvin and Hobbes Hit the Road: Beloved Exhibit Opens in Cooperstown

In 2014, the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum at The Ohio State University curated the second-ever solo exhibition of creator Bill Watterson’s work on “Calvin and Hobbes.” It was called “Exploring Calvin and Hobbes,” and now, for the first time, the exhibit is traveling across the country. First stop: The Fenimore Art Museum in Cooperstown, New York.

Inside the exhibition, visitors can stroll through 80 framed original “Calvin and Hobbes” strips, plucked from the more than 3,000 Watterson donated to the Billy Ireland Museum for safekeeping. Curator Jenny E. Robb hand-selected these examples to showcase a “retrospective exploration of the strip and Watterson’s journey as an artist from his early efforts as a student until he ended ‘Calvin and Hobbes’ in 1995.”

Along with the strips are early “Calvin and Hobbes” drafts, which depicted Calvin—the feisty 6-year-old we know and love—with hair completely covering his eyes. A smart note from his editor encouraged Watterson to change this to a spiky ’do before the strip officially launched in November 1985, 40 years ago.

Once visitors are done browsing Watterson’s work, the museum has constructed a Maker's Space where they can read “Calvin and Hobbes” books, draw, and take a photo in Calvin’s classic red wagon. Several special events are also planned including a "Calvin and Hobbes" costume contest and conversation about Watterson's work with Billy Ireland curator Robb. 

“Although all of the pieces are incredible, we're especially excited to share the final ‘Calvin and Hobbes’ strip with our visitors,” says Julia Madore, director of exhibitions at the Fenimore Art Museum. “Its final words, ‘Let's go exploring,’ is a phrase that we hope our visitors take to heart after they leave the exhibit.”

Overall, the exhibit succeeds in highlighting comic strips as the very real art form they are. As Watterson says in an interview with Robb, “I think comics are something like folk art—sometimes breathtakingly kitschy, sometimes kooky and charming, and once in a while, as interesting and significant as any ‘fine art.’”

If you can’t make it to Cooperstown before the exhibit closes on Dec. 31, 2025, you can purchase the companion book, Exploring Calvin and Hobbes: An Exhibition Catalogue. Along with artwork, sketches, and images, it features a rare 35-page interview with Watterson about his life and career. The exhibition will also travel to additional host museums across the country, and we will update this article as those are announced.

Images courtesy of the Fenimore Art Museum, 5798 State Hwy 80, Cooperstown, NY 13326; fenimoreartmuseum.org