Columbia University is showcasing the early works and artistic legacy of alumni cartoonists and artists in a new exhibition at its Rare Book & Manuscript Library.
"Drawn by a Columbian" is on view in the library's Chang Octagon Room through Dec. 14, 2026. The exhibition highlights several significant cartoonists and artists who got their start illustrating work for Columbia student publications.
Columbia News discussed the exhibition with its co-curators, University Archivist Jocelyn Wilk and Karen L. Green, curator for comics and cartoons.
The Rare Book & Manuscript Library also holds the archives of two major American figures in the performing arts: actress and singer Patti LuPone, and author, playwright and screenwriter Tony Kushner.
In other Columbia arts news, two alumni took home Primetime Emmys. Sara Barone (CC'17) co-wrote the score for "The Beast in Me," which won Outstanding Music Composition for a Limited or Anthology Series, and Olivia Newman (SOA'12) directed and executive produced "Remarkably Bright Creatures," which won Outstanding Movie.
Zosha Di Castri, Francis Goelet Associate Professor of Music Composition, had a new work premiere at Lincoln Center this past month, conducted by New York Philharmonic director Gustavo Dudamel.
Professor Rebecca Kobrin's book "Credit to the Nation" chronicles East European Jewish immigrants who came to New York and, by lending to fellow Jews, became a crucial part of the city's history. School of the Arts Associate Professor Dorothea Lasky's latest poetry book, "Memory," is a collection of lyric essays investigating questions about what defines memory, personhood and consciousness.
Columbia is also hosting a series of public events this fall, including a talk by Carlos Barragán (SOA'24) on his immersion journalism about romance scammers in Lagos, Nigeria, on Oct. 1, and the 2026 Fitch Colloquium on preservation practices in western Africa on Oct. 2.