Toonseum's farewell party for Wos includes unusual attendees

Kate Benz
Sunday, Oct. 5, 2014 6:18 p.m. | Sunday, Oct. 5, 2014 6:18 p.m.

Ocean Princess Leah Froelich made a splash during a party at the Toonseum in Downtown to mark the departure of Joe Wos as the executive director of the Toonseum. Sept. 29, 2014.

Connie Shang, Harsha Mishra, Ege Gurdeniz and Varun Arte were among the guests at a farewell party at the Toonseum in Downtown Pittsburgh to mark the departure of Joe Wos as the executive director of the museum. Sept. 29, 2014.

John Altdorfer

If he could talk to the animals, Joe Wos would be saying goodbye as he attends a farewell party at the Toonseum in Downtown Pittsburgh to mark his departure as its executive director. Sept. 29, 2014.

Passers-by might have thought it odd to see a cartoon-inspired suit, a pen filled with farm animals and a mermaid perched on a couch at the Toonseum on Sept. 29, but for those who know and love its founder and executive director, Joe Wos, it really came as no surprise.

“Pittsburgh does lots of parties,” he laughed. “But they never have an alpaca or a mermaid.”

The swan song to a seven-year run, his farewell party also included best wishes from friends Don Simpson, David Coulson, Greg andYu-Ling Behr, Joan Simpson, Wayne Wise, Connie Shang, Harsha Mishra, Ege Gurdeniz, Varun Arte and Marcel Walker.

Reflecting on his tenure there, Wos was able to put his next chapter into a positive perspective.

“I knew that going in, it's a nonprofit. It would never be mine. It would always belong to the community,” he said.

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