Farnsworth to be featured at American Heritage Center
Alexis Barker
NLJ News Editor
Over the past 25, years News Letter Journal readers have come to know and love the “Gwamma” cartoons created by JaNel Farnsworth, and now anyone who visits the American Heritage Center at the University of Wyoming will have the opportunity to enjoy a glimpse of those years of Gwamma’s life. Not only will Farnsworth’s cartoons be displayed but so will her writings, drawing and correspondence.
Farnsworth, then 46, started Gwamma as a way to remember all of the funny things her grandson Treyton said. The characters and adventures have grown since that time.
“All of a sudden, I was writing down the funny things my kids said, and then instead of writing them down, I drew them,” she said. “I drew 12 one day and 12 the next.”
With encouragement from her husband, Doug Dumbrill, and his uncle, Farnsworth approached former News Letter Journal owner Tom Mullen about running her creations in the weekly paper.
Over the years, Farnsworth’s creations have grown beyond the cartoon featuring Gwamma and grandbaby.
“There were only going to be two characters, Gwamma and Grandbaby. Then there was Baby Doll, and as we got more grandkids, we got more unique personalities and I had to add characters,”
Farnsworth said.
In addition to the weekly cartoon, the local artist created coloring books and books on several topics. When something in her life sparked a fire, she took to the paper and created a story through art.
“The ‘Last Act of Kindness’ was my second book. I was Ryan’s tutor for two years, and then he was killed in seventh grade. His parents were amazing to me. They donated his heart, kidneys, all the way down to the bones in his leg. Right then, when the doctors asked, they said yes,” Farnsworth recalled. “And then I met Sara, who had a kidney transplant (not Ryan’s) and I wrote her story.”
She and Dumbrill even worked with the National Kidney Foundation to share the story with children across the nation who had
received kidneys.
And this wasn’t the only time Farnsworth highlighted amazing acts and people, with children in mind. After creating the “Last Act of Kindness,” Farnsworth took on the task of explaining attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in her book “Hummingbird Mind, scoliosis in the book “Why ME!” and childhood cancer in “Cancer’s not for Wimps.”
Through her work, the small-town cartoonist caught the eye of former Sen. Mike Enzi and his wife, Diana. Enzi had handed out her book “Goin’ to Wyomin” in Washington, D.C., before Diana asked her to write a book about children who were against land mines.
While reading the story “Champs,” Farnsworth recalled having to show children, in her grandchildren’s classes, maps of land mines across the globe to assure them that Wyoming and the United States were
land-mine free.
With 25 years of creations in her hands, Farnsworth said she was humbled by the opportunity to display and preserve her work beyond her family and friends. She was quick to say that none of it would have been possible without her family, especially her grandchildren and their hilarious antics and her husband, who edits her work, and the News Letter Journal.
“Now, about your part in all of this,” Farnsworth said in an email to publisher Bob Bonnar. “Without you, Tom Mullen and the NLJ this would not have been possible. I wouldn’t have drawn as much as I have. That weekly deadline pushed me to draw even when I wasn’t in the mood or had writer’s/cartoonist’s block, and you even paid me!”
And while she is thankful for her family and the News Letter Journal, they are just as thankful and proud of her and her accomplishments.
“This is a great honor to be selected by the University
of Wyoming. It’s very deserving with the amount of work she has put into this cartoon,” son Mike Farnsworth said. “She always puts everyone before herself, so it’s incredible to see her get this individual accomplishment. She is extremely talented and creative, I’m just so proud to be her son.”
“I’m happy that the News Letter Journal was able to help her produce this Wyoming treasure by publishing it for more than two decades, and I consider it a true demonstration of community journalism at its best,” Bonnar said. “JaNel’s talent and dedication allow us to showcase a local artist every week, but her style and voice also reflect family life in our part of the world in such a heartwarming manner that her work promotes our community in the most pleasant possible way.”
This treasure will continue to grace the pages of the News Letter Journal every week as Farnsworth adds to her collection of cartoons that span and document the lives of
her grandchildren.