Starting next week, we will launch into a series featuring selected works from the Original Art 2011, the annual exhibition that honors the fine art of children’s book illustration.
Behind every picture book project is a team. For our first series feature, we meet both the editor and the art director behind Rosalyn Schanzer‘s Gold Medal winner, Witches! The Absolutely True Tale of Disaster in Salem (publisher: National Geographic Society).
title page spread from WITCHES!
We will continue with more selections that feature the story behind making of many other wondrous pieces, over the duration of the exhibit at the Society of Illustrators / American Museum of Illustration, October 27- December 31st, 2011. We will have surprise guests from the industry, discussing each selection. You won’t want to miss the banter. And you can add to the conversation.
The show features 150 books published in 2010-11, chosen from 590 entries submitted nationwide. The official press release featuring Gold and Silver Medal winners can be found here.
The Opening Reception is followed by an Awards Ceremony. In addition to the Gold Medal, there are Silver Medallists, plus one Founder’s Award.
So if you cannot make it to the Original Art show itself, visit The Countdown, from now through the end of 2011, and experience a sampling of the Original Art Show vicariously with us…
Kadir Nelson (Silver Medalist)
Lane Smith (Silver Medalist)
Zachariah OHora (special Founder's Award)
This year’s distinquished jury:
Amy June Bates (chair), illustrator
Julie Danielson, blogger, Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast, and Kirkus Reviews
Scott Gustafson, author/illustrator
John Bemelmans Marciano, author/illustrator
Sean Qualls, illustrator
Erin E. Stead, illustrator
Hyewon Yum, author/illustrator
Cecilia Yung, art director and vice-president, Penguin Books for Young Readers
