Head over to the Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC, to see an impressive collection of art from the Marine Corps Aviation Collection. I never knew airplanes could be so poetic and inspiring.
I had a great time at the museum and smiled to myself as I thought about Brian Floca’s beautiful art in Moonshot. Thank goodness for great museums!
Wow, it’s been a minute since I’ve blogged, but I’ve been busy, busy, busy. WHITE WATER debuts in 3 days! I’ve been working on a promotional material for that, including a shiny new trailer for my youtube channel (coming soon) 
. School starts in a week and I’ve been obsessing over my syllabi, meeting people on campus, and getting to know more and more about my new city (which I adore). It’s going to be a great year! In awesome news – The Ashley Bryan Traveling Exhibit of Illustrated Africana Children’s Literature is now on display in the Barrow Media Center! This exhibit is provided through a collaboration between the Auburn Avenue Research Library and the National Black Arts Festival. The exhibit will be at Barrow until September 27th when I will visit the school. To support the exhibit, Barrow has copies of six books that accompany the exhibit, a curriculum guide to inspire lessons using the texts and artwork, and a school-wide subscription to Literacyhead. Woot Woot! You can read more about Barrow and the exhibit here:
Chakaia Booker and The Fatality of Hope
I visited the Reginald F. Lewis Musem today to see Material Girls: Contemporary Black Women Artists and was blown away, specifically by the work of Chakaia Booker (New York, NY) who sculpts using old rubber tires. Equally inspiring was the work of:
Sonya Clark (Richmond, VA)
Torkwase Dyson (Brooklyn, NY)
Maren Hassinger (Baltimore, MD)
Martha Jackson Jarvis (Washington, DC)
Joyce J. Scott (Baltimore, MD)
Renée Stout (Washington, DC)
AMAZING. Sadly, I wasn’t able to buy a copy of the catalog because the gift shop was closed…on a Saturday afternoon *sigh*. It’s worth another trip to collect the catalog and see the museum again. There’s so much to take in from the permanent collection. If you are visiting B-more, I highly recommend seeing the exhibit. A huge THANK YOU to Dr. Leslie King-Hammond for recommending this.
One more thing got scratched from my “to do” list yesterday. I hung my show, “Living the Dream, the art of Shadra Strickland” at the Auburn Avenue Research Library. A HUGE “thank you” goes out to Dorothea S., Morris G., and Morgan G. for helping with the hanging and lending me their eyes and opinions. The show will be up throughout July.
There will be an Artist’s Talk on Thursday, July 7, 2011 at 7:00 p.m. Participating in the conversation will be award winning author, Carmen Deedy and legendary author/illustrator, Ashley Bryan.
I’d also like to thank Elizabeth Dulemba and SCBWI Southern Breeze for allowing me to be a part of this year’s show at Little Shop of Stories in Decatur! It’s always such a pleasure. I showed original art from HURRICANES and WHITE WATER. Some lucky patron even bought my only advance copy of WHITE WATER! I was surprised because the book doesn’t come out until August, but I learned that if there’s a barcode present, anything can be sold. Originally mortified, I put everything in perspective (and alerted my publisher). In the end I’m flattered~ Hopefully it’s a good sign of things to come for this book 
I’m a little slow….
After receiving an e-mail last month about speaking with Ashley Bryan at the Auburn Avenue Research Library it wasn’t until I spoke with my friend, Jan Burkins (Literacyhead.com) this morning that I realized I am being honored next year by Ashley Bryan in collaboration with the National Black Arts Festival!
Each year in collaboration with National Black Arts Festival and renowned illustrator Ashley Bryan AARL honors an illustrator for their commitment to the authentic and sensitive representations of people of African descent and Africana culture.
We would be honored to have you (Shadra Strickland) as the 2011 honoree. The event is schedule for Thursday, July 07 at 6:30 p.m. Honorees are asked to facilitate a discussion about their work and participate in a conversation with Ashley Bryan. This event would also include a book signing.
We would also like to exhibit your (Shadra Strickland’s) artwork in our small gallery during the month of July.
Yeah, don’t ask me how I missed that. They had me at “conversation with Ashely Bryan”. WOO HOO!!!!!!! What a tremendous honor!
Many thanks to Ashley Bryan, the National Black Arts Festival, the Auburn Avenue Research Library, (and Jan Burkins for making me go back and read my e-mail slowly). See you in July!
This weekend I will be participating in the Decatur Arts Festival Artwalk.
The 3rd Annual
Children’s Book Illustrator’s Show
hosted by Little Shop of Stories and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, Southern Breeze region during ArtWalk Opening Night for the Decatur Arts Festival. Friday, May 28, 2009, 5 to 9 PM at Little Shop of Stories 133 East Court Square, Decatur, Georgia, USA
(404) 373-6300
The original art for Our Children Can Soar is headed your way! Check it out, and don’t miss your chances to meet Eric Velasquez, James Ransome, and Pat Cummings!
The original paintings for OUR CHILDREN CAN SOAR has left Cleveland and is now on exhibit at the Weiss Center in Jew Jersey. The art will be on display from March 11-April 7.
Gallery hours:
11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.,
Monday through Friday.
Admission is free
Scheduled Events
All events take place in the Harold B. Lemmerman Gallery, Hepburn Hall Rm. 323
2039 Kennedy Boulevard, Jersey City, NJ 07302
Opening Reception featuring James Ransome
5:00 – 7:00 p.m. on
Thursday, March 11,
Features an address by James Ransome, one of the book’s 13 illustrators. (Copies of the books autographed by all the book’s 13 artists will be available for silent auction at the opening reception on March 11.)
Eric Velasquez
5:00 – 7:00 p.m.
Thursday, March 16, 2010
Pat Cummings
5:00 – 7:00 p.m.
Thursday, March 31, 2010
I finally wrapped my second book, A PLACE WHERE HURRICANES HAPPEN by Renee Watson. It debuts this June with Random House. In the meantime, I will be making three appearances in November.
On November 12th, the Cleveland Public Library is graciously hosting an exhibition of the original artwork for OUR CHILDREN CAN SOAR, which was published with BloomsburyUSA. They have invited me to be a part of the opening exhibition and to talk about my work. If you’re in Cleveland, please come by!
On November 21, I will be at the Brooklyn Museum’s Children’s Book Fair with Zetta Elliott signing copies of BIRD and OUR CHILDREN CAN SOAR
On November 23rd I will be speaking on a panel with the NCTE Annual Convention
Workshop Title: Biographies: Bringing Lives to Life
Date and Time: November 23, 2009, 9 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
