SHE’S OUTSPOKEN. Loud. Sometimes bossy. Opinionated. Strong. And, in her own unique way, lovable. She is Lucy Van Pelt of the Peanuts cartoon strip.
Lucy and the other characters created by Charles Schulz represent diverse personalities. They are some of us. They are all of us. And that is perhaps what makes this comic strip so endearing, so relatable.
In Minnesota, especially, we hold a deep fondness for the Peanuts’ characters. Cartoonist Schulz was born in Minneapolis, raised in St. Paul, moved to Colorado, back to Minnesota, and then eventually to California in 1958 with his wife and their five children. As a high school student, he studied art through a correspondence course at the Art Instruction Schools in Minneapolis and later taught there. His Peanuts cartoon debuted in October 1950 and would eventually include some 70 characters, their stories, trials, triumphs.
St. Paul honors their native son with bronze sculptures of Peanuts at Landmark Plaza in the heart of the capital city. While I’ve never seen that art, I’ve seen art from an earlier endeavor, “Peanuts on Parade.” After Schulz died in 2000, St. Paul undertook the five-year parade project beginning with Snoopy fiberglass statues painted by artists and then auctioned to fund scholarships for artists and cartoonists and to finance the bronze statues. In subsequent years, “Peanuts on Parade” featured Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus, and, finally, Snoopy and Woodstock.
It is a statue of Lucy which found its way into my community, landing at the Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf. “Land O’Lucy” now stands in a visible spot on campus, moved during a recent construction project from an obscure location outside Quinn Hall to the front of Noyes Hall East Wing. She’s become my silent, if Lucy can be silent, cheerleader as I walk the deaf school campus doing my vestibular rehab therapy exercises. I like to think that Lucy is encouraging me, just as she is encouraging the young deaf and hard of hearing students who attend this specialized residential school. Lucy symbolizes strength with her nothing’s-going-to-stop-me attitude. We can all use a bit of that empowering approach to life’s challenges.
This particular statue from the 2002 “Looking for Lucy, Peanuts on Parade” project was painted by Dubuque, Iowa, artist Adam Eikamp with Land O’Lakes Inc. the sponsoring company. The dairy plant in Faribault has since closed. But its support of this public art remains forever imprinted in informational signage at the fiberglass statue’s base.
The agricultural theme of the MSAD Lucy is fitting. Our area of southern Minnesota is a strong agricultural region. The paintings on the statue reflect that with fields, barn, farmhouse, cows and chickens. Lucy banners rural. She is among 105 five-foot tall Lucys painted as part of “Looking for Lucy.”
If you’re looking for this Lucy, travel to MSAD on Faribault’s east side. You can’t miss the domed Noyes Hall, on the National Register of Historic Places and among many beautiful historic limestone buildings on campus. She stands outside Noyes’ east wing, welcoming students and others, arms flung wide. Typical Lucy with body language that reveals her extroverted personality, her loud, strong and encouraging voice.
© Copyright 2023 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
Thank you for this. I hadn’t realize that Schulz had such a close connection to Minnesota. Lucy is definitely a role model for empowerment. But I’ll always have a soft spot in my heart for good old Charlie Brown. 😉
Minnesota definitely claims Charles Schulz. I agree about the soft spot for Charlie Brown.
Interesting insight into Lucy persona. There are plenty of the peanuts statues scattered over the St. Paul area. One of Charles Schulz in a park across the street from the St. Paul Hotel.
I’m so glad St. Paul has honored Schulz with statues of Peanuts characters.
oh, how wonderful. I think she was the perfect choice for this location. and I do think we can each identify with some of the characters, he was genius in how he created each of their personalities. I always most identified with Woodstock, a bit awkward in the world, but happy and kind.
Yes, Schulz created characters that we can all connect with and that does, indeed, make him a genius.
Agreed
Very creative art on Lucy VP!
When our Lucy was born, Colin wasn’t convinced of the name. He preferred Lydia. I said no way. He went with newly arrived baby girl to see her be weighed and such and when he came back he said, “She’s a Lucy.” It was funny how many said that about her when she was little.
Your Lucy is definitely a Lucy! Not a Lydia at all.
Lol! Yep!
Good for Lucy…giving encouragement. 😉
We need to walk the campus sometime…sounds lovely.
You would enjoy the MSAD campus. We just walked there this morning.
I grew up loving the Peanuts gang and my brother kept notebooks full of glued comic strips from the series so that he could look at them over and over again. Lucy was one of my favorites.
I love that your brother kept that Peanuts notebook. Now there’s a kid who loved the comic strip.
Love Lucy and Peanuts! ❤
This has to be one of the most-loved comics.
Sleepy Eye Minnesota has a Linus statue in front of its public Library. The statue honors Mr Schultz’s room mate at the U of Minn who was from Sleepy Eye. If memory serves me right, his me was Linus Mauer. I wonder if other communities have their own Peanuts character.
Brenda, I’ve posted a photo of Linus on my blog. He stands in front of the library. And you are right on your facts about Linus.
Love Peanuts, love Land O Lakes Sponsoring this artwork. Terrific post Audrey.
Glad you enjoyed this Looking for Lucy post.