Catholics among top winners in cartoon contest
By NADIA MARIA SMITH
CS&T Staff Writer
PHILADELPHIA — Two local Catholics were ranked among the best cartoonists from across the country and the world in speaking out against violence in the National Liberty Museum’s second annual “Anti-Violence” editorial “caretoons” contest.
The contest was created after a Danish newspaper published a cartoon of the prophet Muhammad that generated violence. To channel the powerful art form into a positive purpose, the museum invited students and adults to create cartoons that express their vision of “cartoons that care,” or caretoons.
“Youth and adults of all ages from across the U.S. and foreign countries submitted 1,200 entries to our contest,” said museum CEO Gwen Borowsky. “We were amazed by their creativity, from as close as Center City Philadelphia and as far away as Iran, Myanmar, Israel and China.”
But it was artists in the Allentown Diocese and Philadelphia who best succeeded in capturing the museum’s anti-violence message. The winners were announced during a June 12 reception, in which the cartoons by the two winners and several honorable mentions were on display in a special exhibit in the Conflict to Harmony Gallery of the museum.
Allison Osborne of Macungie, Pa., was named the student grand prize winner for her cartoon picturing a cell phone text message that read, “Stop the violence pass it on.”
“I was thinking how most teenagers communicate best through text messages,” said Osbourne, 17, a member of St. Thomas More Parish in Allentown. “And that is what captures their attention first. So that’s why I did it as a text message.”
“I don’t see a lot of physical violence. I see more cell phone bullying … which can lead to violence. That’s why the message is to stop.”
Osborne will use the $1,000 she received from Allegiance Bank, the sponsor of the event, for her college education. She will be attending Wake Forest University in North Carolina to study pre-medicine, she said.
Tom Stiglich, a parishioner of St. Martha Parish in Philadelphia, received an honorable mention for his cartoon, which is on display at the museum.
“I entered the contest with the same intent that I approach each cartoon — to try and make a difference,” said Stiglich, a professional cartoonist. His work has appeared in the New York Times, Newsweek, USA Today and Time magazine. “I chose to draw the ‘Flower in a gun’ theme because of what’s going on around us. I’ve always loved history, and I’m sure I was influenced by all those black and white images from the Vietnam War. Whether here in the City of Brotherly Love, or thousands of miles away in the Mideast, Iraq or Afghanistan, violence needs to be addressed.”
Several schools also participated in the contest, including Our Mother of Consolation in Philadelphia. Sixteen of the 19 students in teacher Nancy Rowbottom’s fifth-grade class submitted their artwork.
“Participating in the contest really gave them an opportunity to think about the violence … and about possible solutions,” she said.
CS&T staff writer Nadia Maria Smith may be reached at npozo@adphila.org or (215) 965-4614.