Created By Seven Brooklyn-Based Artists including Six Caldecott Medal Winners
Images here.
Brooklyn, NY—Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) debuted a seven-panel mural in the Central Library Youth Wing today. Illustrator Sophie Blackall served as the creative director of the project; she is a two-time winner of the Caldecott Medal and four-time winner of New York Times Best Illustrated Picture Award.
“It is thrilling to have made something together which will outlast us all—the background to a Brooklyn childhood for generations to come,” said Blackall.
The murals depict the experience of borrowing a book from the local library and being transported to another world. The artists met in November to discuss themes, ideas and techniques and set a timeline for sketches, color drafts and final art. As the plans came together and the illustrators saw one another’s work, they made numerous adjustments and borrowed elements from one another to add a sense of continuity to the panels.
“The murals in the youth wing at Central Library are filled with the same magical possibilities as the pages of the books below them,” said Linda E. Johnson, President and CEO of Brooklyn Public Library. “We are thrilled to present the work of seven of the most highly regarded and cherished children’s illustrators in the nation to delight Brooklyn children and families for years to come.”
The contributors include seven illustrious artists.
Selina Alko is an award-winning writer-illustrator who melds words and mixed-media art to convey stories of hope and inspiration and alternative viewpoint. Her books include The Case for Loving, B is for Brooklyn and Daddy Christmas & Hanukkah Mama.
Sophie Blackall (mural artistic director) is a Brooklyn-based, Australian illustrator of over 45 books for children, including the New York Times best-selling Ivy and Bean series, the 2016 Caldecott Medal winner, Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World’s Most Famous Bear and the 2019 Caldecott Medal winner, Hello Lighthouse, which she also wrote.
Yuyi Morales was born in Xalapa, Mexico, the city of flowers and springs. After migrating to the US in 1994, she struggled with English and loneliness in a culture foreign to her but found solace in public libraries, where she read children's books with her son and discovered a renewed interest in stories and art. She is now the author and illustrator of many books for children, including the New York Times bestseller Dreamers and Niño Wrestles the World, and she is a six-time winner of the Pura Belpré Medal for an outstanding work of literature for children that best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience. Other honors include the Américas Award, the Golden Kite Medal, the Christopher Award, the Jane Addams Award, and the Tomás Rivera Award. In 2015 she received the Caldecott Honor for her book Viva Frida.
Christopher Myers is a widely acclaimed author and illustrator living in Brooklyn. In addition to illustrating his own titles, he has worked with numerous authors, including his father, Walter Dean Myers. The two worked together on the Caldecott Honor winner Harlem, as well as the Coretta Scott King Honor winners Black Cat and H.O.R.S.E. . He is also Creative Director of Make Me a World, a new imprint of Random House. Myers recently wrote and designed a play based on his experiences working with refugee youth in Munich, Cartography, commissioned by the Kennedy Center.
Stephen Savage has written and illustrated 13 children's books, including the Geisel Award Honor, Supertruck and the New York Times Best Illustrated Book and bestseller, Polar Bear Night, written by Lauren Thompson. A 2015 Sendak Fellow, Steve has produced nearly 600 editorial illustrations over his 23-year career.
Javaka Steptoe is an eclectic artist, designer, and illustrator. He received the 2017 Caldecott Medal for Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, which he both wrote and illustrated. His debut work, In Daddy’s Arms I Am Tall: African Americans Celebrating Fathers, earned him the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award, a nomination for Outstanding Children’s Literature Work at the 1998 NAACP Image Awards, and numerous other honors.
Paul O. Zelinsky’s illustrations have won wide acclaim and many awards, including the Caldecott Medal for his Rapunzel; and three Caldecott Honors, for Hansel and Gretel, Rumpelstiltskin, and Swamp Angel. He is the most recent recipient of the Society of Illustrators’ Original Art Lifetime Achievement Award for Illustrator, and is 2018’s Carle Honoree for Artist, a recognition from the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. His movable book The Wheels on the Bus is a perennial favorite among toddlers, and newer books he illustrated, such as Z is for Moose and Toys Meet Snow, have also been hits.
Central Library is open to the public seven days a week. Throughout BPL’s 50 branches, the Library offers nearly 11,000 programs for young children including story time in 12 languages.
About Brooklyn Public Library
Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) is an independent library system for the 2.5 million residents of Brooklyn. It is the sixth largest library system in the United States with 60 neighborhood libraries located throughout the borough. BPL offers free programs and services for all ages and stages of life, including a large selection of books in more than 30 languages, author talks, literacy programs and public computers. BPL’s eResources, such as eBooks and eVideos, catalog information and free homework help, are available to customers of all ages 24 hours a day at our website: www.bklynlibrary.org