The Bates College Museum of Art is closing out one of its most ambitious shows in years. Ralph Steadman: And Another Thing comes to an end on Friday, Oct. 11, and with it goes a rare chance to see more than 140 original works by one of the world’s most distinctive illustrators.
Ralph Steadman may be most famous for his collaborations with Hunter S. Thompson on Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and the rise of Gonzo journalism. His splattered ink drawings, grotesque caricatures, and chaotic energy became synonymous with countercultural critique. The Bates exhibition makes clear that his career stretches far beyond those iconic images. On view are children’s book illustrations for Alice in Wonderland and Treasure Island, searing political cartoons, activist works, and playful branding materials. A life-size bronze sculpture of Steadman greets visitors, while sketchbooks and archival photographs offer a window into his process. The show is immersive and interactive, encouraging visitors to draw connections across Steadman’s wide-ranging projects and to see how humor and absurdity can become tools for political engagement.
The exhibition also coincides with the arrival of Carrie Cushman, the museum’s new director. Cushman brings a background in curatorial work, museum leadership, and art history, and she has made it clear she sees the Bates Museum as a space of community and belonging. In an interview with Bates News, she argued that museums are not static archives but places where people can wrestle with difficult ideas, share stories, and model civic life. At a time of political polarization, social tension, and constant digital noise, she believes museums offer something rare: a space to slow down, reflect, and connect. She has already shared plans to make the Bates Museum more dynamic by reactivating the permanent collection, opening new opportunities for students to curate and research, and aligning future exhibitions with projects like the Marsden Hartley Legacy Project. If her previous work is any indication, having helped grow attendance by 70 percent annually at her last institution, students can expect the museum to become an even more visible and vital part of campus life.
For students, the message is clear. Museums are not just for art majors or visiting parents. They are living classrooms where ideas from across disciplines meet. Steadman’s work, for example, speaks to politics, media studies, literature, history, and environmental activism as much as it does to fine art. The fact that a show of this scale is on view in Lewiston, free of charge and steps away from Commons, is a privilege worth recognizing. It is also a reminder of what makes a college museum unique: the chance to encounter world-class art in an intimate, accessible setting, without the barriers of admission fees or long travel.
Ralph Steadman: And Another Thing is on view in both the upper and lower galleries of Olin Arts Center through Oct. 11. If you have not visited yet, make time this week. Go with friends, bring a notebook, and let yourself get lost in Steadman’s messy, satirical, and unforgettable world. And while you are there, consider what Cushman is urging: that the Bates Museum is not just an add-on to campus life but a vital space for thinking, belonging, and imagining. Seeing Steadman before it leaves is one way to take part in that.
