Tom “Midtown is Memphis” Foster Draws the Palace

In 1979, Memphis artist Tom Foster drew a series of cartoon postcards for the Pink Palace. Foster is an accomplished local artist who had drawn courtroom trials, album covers, comic books and theater sets. He trained at Washington University in St. Louis, the University of Memphis and Memphis College of Art. After school, Foster worked professionally as a courtroom artist, art director for WMC TV-5 and a graphics coordinator for the University of Memphis. In the 1990s, he decided to become a free-lancer and eventually self-published several books of his work. Arguably his best known work is his collaboration on the original “Midtown is Memphis” bumper sticker.

Foster drew these postcards soon after the museum’s 1977 expansion and featured the then brand new exhibits. Some of the exhibits, like the log cabin and the drug store, are still on display. Others, such as the eagle exhibit and the tree, have since been updated.