Schulz Museum and more in Santa Rosa

On Sunday, we wedding guests gathered for a casual Sunday brunch at the (still beautiful) Lancaster Estate house.

After brunch, a small group of us (Di Yin, I, G, A, and someone else) who were heading back to the bay area decided to have some fun together on the way back. I advocated (persuasively as it turned out) to stop by the Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, the first town we pass through on the way home. I took some pictures at the museum.

I enjoyed most of the exhibits in the Schulz Museum. One large exhibit downstairs showed how Peanuts educated readers about science and nature, spotlighting series of strips that explain gardening, glowing, seeding, bird migration, trees, eclipses, weather, and more. It never occurred to me that this was a conscious part of Schulz's work, but apparently it was. I wonder how much I learned from Peanuts. Schulz also made drawings (with Peanuts characters but not part of the strip) for the E.P.A.

I also particularly liked a display asking which character, which personalities, are you most like. I decided I was most like Schroeder or Linus, though I could identify with Shermy for his famous haircut line.

Another exhibit showed how Peanuts and Schulz's drawing style evolved over the years. It's not just how the characters' appearance changed; even the look of the speech balloons, the perspective of the frame (what angle it seems the viewer is looking at the scene from), and the setting changed dramatically between his early and later work. For instance, in early cartoons, the kids sit on a curb and talk; in later strips, they stand by a wall. (Schulz realized that kids sitting on a curb was dangerous and that he shouldn't show them sitting on a curb in case the characters are taken as role models.) Also, in early strips there were adult legs and off-stage voices. These went by the wayside. In addition, some characters and relatives got dropped, such as Snoopy's family. In short, comparing the visual style and setting and characters over the years reveals a remarkable change that's somehow almost invisible on a month-to-month basis.

Exhibits upstairs in the museum were more historical, presenting biographical information on Schulz, showing intermediate sketches of the process of making a strip, discussing Schulz's influences, and displaying pictures from his life. The museum even included two parts of Schulz's home: a wall of his living room and full model of his studio, including his bookshelves. A final area upstairs showed how Peanuts characters have been developed into products and marketed over the years.

The museum aside, Santa Rosa goes all out for its homegrown star. One brochure I picked up has a map of the numerous Peanuts statues all around town. Next time I'm in the area maybe I'll detour to see some.

After the museum, we continued onward, regrouping again at a winery. We sampled wines and partook of the wide variety of snacks G provided. Sorry I don't remember the name of the winery.