The L.A. Pittenger Student Center Ballroom was transformed Saturday night into a dimly lit homage to one of Ball State University's most distinguished alumni and his famous feline.
Garfield silhouettes lit in vibrant colors lined the walls as many sponsors listened to Jim Davis discuss his childhood, his career and his fundraiser — all while sketching his most well-known creation.
Davis said he was more comfortable drawing than talking in front of people.
"That's the one thing I do well, the rest of it will probably be shaky," he said, laughing. "I'll draw as much as I can, because when I draw, I don't have to talk. I think people are more interested in watching me draw anyway."
More than 200 people attended "An Extraordinary Evening with Jim Davis," which was established to raise money for the newly-created Jim Davis Fund in honor of him and his popular comic cat, Ben Hancock, vice president for University Advancement, said.
The event raised approximately $160,000, including the dinner ticket sales, the silent auction of Garfield paintings and the live auctions of Davis' drawings he created during his speech. The money raised will go toward the endowment that will sponsor immersive learning and emerging media projects that can be distributed across all departments on campus, starting in 2011, Hancock said.
A life-sized Garfield, supported by a human assistant, made his way across the three rooms prior to dinner to greet Davis and some of the sponsors, including Mayor Sharon McShurley and Ball State President Jo Ann Gora.
Gora said she was honored to have Davis supporting the fund and presented him with a president's medal at the end of the event.
"[Jim Davis] runs a global business [Paws Inc.], in the middle of a corn field in Albany, [Ind.]," she said. "He cares. ... it's an honor to have him involved in the university."
The fundraiser is not the first time Davis has been involved with Ball State. He said he has donated money for scholarships, developed an educational Web site — professorgarfield.org, which includes a caricature of Gora — worked with Ball State departments to preserve the prairie and reforest areas around his studio and will include students in the internationally touring musical, "Garfield Live", which will debut Jan. 18 at John R. Emens Auditorium, according to an article in playbill.com.
Life as a student
Davis said even though he was in the Honors College as a student at Ball State and did well in certain classes, he wasn't the best student overall.
"I didn't make the best grades," he said, laughing. "But I did make good grades in art. ... I did good in what I liked and poor in what I didn't."
However, at that time, the art department only offered art education courses, so he decided his junior year to change his major to business administration so he could go out and work in advertising.
"Of course the only thing is, when you go over to business, [there's] things like accounting," he said. "I took Accounting I three times, so, if that gives you any idea how well I did."
He said he encourages students, whether they are writers, artists or anyone else, to have fun doing what they are doing. His advice for students is to study what you like, regardless of major or monetary value.
"What do you really enjoy doing? Look at your hobbies, look at your passions and follow them and you're going to do well, no matter what it is," he said. "That's my philosophy, it worked for me."
Life with Garfield
Davis grew up on a farm near Fairmount, Ind., and it was his experiences and influences there that made him interested in cartooning.
Even though he wanted to be a farmer, his asthma encouraged him to stay indoors and draw, and it became another way for him to express himself and his feelings. After many years of cartooning, Davis said his most famous creation calls the shots.
"[Garfield] has his own voice, and he resides in my head, but he's really well defined," he said. "So I'll put him in a situation, and I'll watch him. He'll say what he darn well pleases, and I'll have to write it down."
Davis said he believes Garfield is popular because people can identify with him.
"He has the courage to say things that we'd all like to say but don't. Right down deep, we're all lazy," he said, laughing. "Garfield relieves our guilt a little bit, because we're all made to feel guilty for sleeping in, gaining weight, not eating correctly. ... So in these times, we read Garfield and say, ‘Well, isn't that true.'"
He said Garfield helps people feel better about themselves, and that they can connect with him in more ways than they may know.
"Basically I sell the reader themselves back in a mirror — but with a hero's twist," he said.
Davis said he wishes he was able to attend Ball State now to take advantage of all the new programs available, but added that he is hopeful for future students.
"In the years to come, it will be interesting to see, between Garfield and Ball State University, in turn how we mature and what we do with our relationship down the road to perpetuate both organizations," he said. "This is just one step along the way to working more closely together. I'm really looking forward to it."
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