Wild Things Are Happening: The Art of Maurice Sendak

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Columbus Museum of Art

October 21, 2022–March 5, 2023

Admission Information

Wild Things Are Happening: The Art of Maurice Sendak is a special exhibition and requires an additional fee.

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You do not need to purchase tickets in advance. If you need help planning your visit, call 614.221.6801. Click here for information about ticket prices, parking, and additional visit information.

Exhibition Description

Wild Things Are Happening: The Art of Maurice Sendak will be the first major retrospective of Sendak since his death in 2012, and the largest and most complete exhibition of one of the most celebrated and original artists of our time. On view from October 21, 2022 through March 5, 2023, the exhibition is organized by the Columbus Museum of Art in conjunction with The Maurice Sendak Foundation. An international tour is planned following its presentation in Columbus.

The exhibition is comprised of more than 150 sketches, storyboards, and paintings by Sendak drawn from the collection of The Maurice Sendak Foundation. Highlights include original work for Sendak’s most famous books: Where the Wild Things Are, In the Night Kitchen, and Outside Over There. Sendak was influenced by writers ranging from William Shakespeare to Herman Melville. Alongside landmark pictures for Sendak’s own books will be examples of artwork he created for such celebrated publications as The Bat-Poet by Randall Jarrell, A Hole is to Dig by Ruth Krauss, The Little Bear Series by Else Holmelund Minarik, and Zlateh the Goat by Isaac Bashevis Singer. Designs for many of Sendak’s opera, theater, film, and television productions are also featured in the exhibition.

Wild Things Are Happening is guest curated by Jonathan Weinberg, artist, and Curator of The Maurice Sendak Foundation. Weinberg also edited the lavishly illustrated catalog that brings together a diversity of perspectives, including Sendak’s own words about his career and a major essay by distinguished art historian Thomas Crow. Both the book and the exhibition are notable for their scope, their focus on Sendak’s emulation of other artists, and the role played by art history in his creative process. As Sendak himself said, “if there must be more to life, then it is surely what art provides.” In this spirit the retrospective highlights the relationship of Sendak’s pictures to the art that he collected and loved including works by William Blake, Walt Disney, Winsor McCay, George Stubbs, Beatrix Potter, and Philipp Otto Runge.

Nannette Maciejunes, CMA executive director and CEO observes, “So many of us grew up with Maurice Sendak’s illustrated books. This exhibition not only gives you the chance to see original drawings for his beloved books, but to discover Sendak’s range as an artist and the true depth of his creativity.”

Sendak’s impact on the broader world of the performing arts is illuminated through his collaboration and friendship with directors, composers, playwrights, and visual artists, such as Carroll Ballard, Frank Corsaro, Spike Jonze, Tony Kushner, Twyla Tharp, and Arthur Yorinks. The exhibition will also highlight Sendak’s love of Mozart and the way the composer’s life and work influenced not only Sendak’s designs for Mozart’s operas, such as The Magic Flute, but also key books including Outside Over There and Dear Mili. As Sendak stated, “I love opera beyond anything, and Mozart beyond anything.”

Events

Movie Night at the Museum: Where the Wild Things Are
February 4, 6:00–9:00 PM
Columbus Museum of Art

TICKETS HAVE SOLD OUT
All ages are welcome to have a night at the Museum featuring a screening of Where the Wild Things Are, directed by Spike Jonze. From 6:00–7:00 PM, explore Wild Things Are Happening: The Art of Maurice Sendak, enjoy a cash bar, art-activities, snacks and movie trivia. The film screening starts at 7:00 PM. Pajamas are welcome.

Tickets are $12 for non-members and $10 for members.

Image: Warner Bros. Pictures

Conversation with Sendak Foundation Fellows
February 9, 2:00–3:00 PM
Online

In 2009, Maurice Sendak enlisted the help of Lynn Caponera and Dona Ann McAdams to help realize his vision of a residency for picture book artists. Please join us for a discussion with Sendak Fellows from the first two years of The Sendak Fellowship to hear about their unique experiences of their time spent in Ridgefield, CT alongside Sendak’s work, his collection, and the artist himself.

Sendak Fellow Panelists Include:

Doug Salati
Introduction

Nora Krug
2014 Fellowship / Brooklyn, NY

Antoinette Portis
2010 Fellowship / Los Angeles, CA

Frann Preston Gannon
2011 Fellowship / South London, England

Sergio Ruzzier
2011 Fellowship, Italy

Ali Bahrampour
2011 Fellowship / Brooklyn, NY

This program is free with registration. Or check back to this page to tune-in to the virtual experience on the event date.

Join Virtually

Wild Things: Maurice Sendak, His Art and Vision
February 19, 2:00–3:00 PM
In-Person at Main Columbus Metropolitan Library, 96 S. Grant Ave

In this lively illustrated talk, historian Leonard S. Marcus will draw on his wild-ranging knowledge of children’s literature and popular culture, and his twenty-year-long friendship with Maurice Sendak, to show how the creator of Where the Wild Things Are changed children’s literature, and our understanding of childhood, forever.

This lecture is brought to you in collaboration with Columbus Metropolitan Libraries. Leonard S. Marcus is one of the world’s leading writers about children’s books and the people who create them. He is more than 25 award-winning books including Margaret Wise Brown: Awakened by the Moon; Dear Genius: The Letters of Ursula Nordstrom; You Can’t Say That!; and most recently the young people’s biography Mr. Lincoln Sits for His Portrait. Leonard is a founding trustee of the Eric Carle Museum and was the curator of the NY Public Library’s landmark exhibition The ABC of It: Why Children’s Books Matter. He speaks about his work to audiences across the world. Visit his website to learn more: www.leonardmarcus.com.

Program is free, registration is requested.

Photo by Sonya Sones

Other Ways to Visit

The Columbus Museum of Art is excited to partner with the Columbus Metropolitan Library (CML) to encourage visitors to check-out a Culture Pass from any CML location and come to the Museum for free. Sign up for a library card to check out Maurice Sendak books (and the Culture Pass) at the library today!

As part of the Culture Pass program, library customers can borrow a one-time pass (which can’t be reserved and must be checked out in person) to visit the Museum. These passes can be borrowed at all 23 Columbus Metropolitan Library locations.

NEW! In addition to CML, Museum passes are now available at several Central Ohio libraries, including Delaware County, Pickaway County, Pickerington, Fairfield County, Worthington, Grandview, and Kate Love Simpson Library. Contact your library directly to check-out a pass.

Culture Pass Information