At Your Delaware Library January 3 – February 28
Telling A People’s Story: African-American Children’s Illustrated Literature panel exhibition showcases 130 pieces of art from 33 artists and 95 books, and spans 50 years of creativity. The featured artists include Caldecott medalists and honorees like John Steptoe, Ashley Bryan, E.B. Lewis, Leo and Diane Dillon, R. Gregory Christie, and Jerry Pinkney.
The panel exhibition is free to enjoy from January 3-31 in the Delaware Main Library, and from February 1-28 at our Orange Branch Library.
Organized by the Miami University Art Museum through a grant from the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation, for the first time, African-American children’s illustrated literature is the focus of a museum exhibition. This presentation of this genre offers a lens into the cultural, historical, and social makeup of African-American cultural identity, while also shedding light on the long-neglected world of African-American authors and illustrators in the pantheon of children’s literature.
Telling A People’s Story addresses:
- The presentation of African-American identity and history in a creative, educational and respectful manner.
- The raising of greater awareness for the role African-American illustrators and authors play in the development and growth of the field of children’s literature.
- The topic of social justice throughout African-American history.
- The need for awareness of the challenges African-American children’s book authors and illustrators face in a field lacking sufficient representation of minorities.
- The importance of appreciating the culture and history of a people who are deeply rooted in the American story.
Through the panels of the exhibition, you’ll follow the history of a people from African origins to slavery and segregation through the Harlem Renaissance, Great Migration, Civil Rights Era and to modern times.
Telling A People’s Story uses paintings, pastels, drawings and mixed-media illustrations to celebrate the complex and diverse African-American experience through a lens intended for children and younger readers.
Special thanks to our Community Partners: