Event Calendar
Date(s) Sort descending | Event | Event Type | Region |
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September 7, 2024 - September 7, 2025 | Artful Collaboration: Eric Carle & Ann Beneduce
The author-editor relationship is a collaborative partnership built on mutual respect, trust, and a shared commitment to creating the best possible work. It can also be a highly personal alliance. Eric Carle and editor Ann Beneduce worked together over five decades and developed a steadfast friendship. Ann published the first picture book Eric wrote and illustrated—1, 2, 3 to the Zoo in 1968—and she played a vital role in bringing The Very Hungry Caterpillar to life the following year. Eric followed Ann as she moved to different publishing houses, including Philomel, the imprint she created in the early 1980s. Ann continued to edit Eric’s books even after her retirement, including the 2015 publication The Nonsense Show. “Ann had the greatest influence on me,” acknowledged Eric. “We were well suited for each other.” This exhibition explores the 50-year professional relationship between the beloved picture book artist, Eric Carle, and the legendary picture book editor, Ann Beneduce. It includes never-before-exhibited art, correspondence, and photographs. Wed – Fri 10am – 4pm Adult $15 West Gallery Amherst, MA More info |
Exhibits | Mid-Atlantic |
September 7, 2024 - April 6, 2025 | Recent Acquisition: Jerry Pinkney's The Lion & the Mouse
Jerry Pinkney changed the course of children’s literature with his brilliant watercolor illustrations. As a founding trustee of the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, Pinkney’s own work closely aligned with the Museum’s belief in the power of visual literacy. As a visual storyteller, Pinkney often reinterpreted classic tales by challenging stereotypes, recasting characters, and imagining new settings. For his Caldecott-winning adaptation of Aesop’s timeless fable The Lion and the Mouse (2009), Pinkney took the courageous step to let the artwork speak for itself. To celebrate the arrival of the iconic cover for The Lion and the Mouse at the Museum, and in honor of those who made this important acquisition possible, the Carle is presenting a selection of original artwork from this seminal publication. This special installation features the front and back images for the iconic book jacket, as well as two interior spreads and one preliminary sketch. Wed – Fri 10am – 4pm Adult $15 West Gallery Amherst, MA More info |
Exhibits | Mid-Atlantic |
November 16, 2024 - April 5, 2025 | Free to Be. . . You and Me: 50 Years of Stories and Songs
Free to Be…You and Me: 50 Years of Stories and Songs celebrates the profound and enduring impact of the groundbreaking 1972 record and its subsequent picture books and TV specials. The exhibition features original artwork from the 1974 publication by Barbara Bascove and Arnold Lobel along with original illustrations by John Steptoe, Susan Jeffers, Jerry Pinkney, Leo and Diane Dillon, Lonni Sue Johnson, Stacey Schuett, Susan Stillman, and Martha Perske from Free to Be…A Family, published in 1987. The exhibition also displays art from the 35th anniversary edition, including pieces by Joe Mathieu, Peter Reynolds, Tony DiTerlizzi, and LeUyen Pham. Music, video, photographs, and ephemera bring the multimedia enterprise to life and illustrate the origins and impact of Marlo Thomas’s radical project. The exhibition will showcase approximately 50 works, including first edition books, the classic album cover, period photographs, audio recordings, newspaper articles, and other ephemera. Wed – Fri 10am – 4pm Adult $15 Central Gallery Amherst, MA More info |
Exhibits | Mid-Atlantic |
January 8, 2025 - August 3, 2025 | Margaret Wise Brown & Her Artists
A key figure in the evolution of picture books, Margaret Wise Brown wrote Goodnight Moon (1947), The Runaway Bunny (1942), and other groundbreaking books. Brown was radical for her time, rejecting norms in children’s literature in favor of stories that reflected kids’ everyday experiences. Commissioning avant-garde artists to illustrate her books, Brown ushered in a new type of children’s literature—one bursting with bold sound and color. Since her death in 1952, Brown’s stories have continued to inspire generations of picture-book artists. As Brown wrote, “the important thing… is that the book goes on long after it is closed.” The books featured in this exhibition include some of Brown’s most well-known titles, including collaborations with artists like Clement Hurd, Leonard Weisgard, and Garth Williams. There are also newly illustrated versions of older titles, books published from manuscripts discovered after Brown’s death, and a selection of vintage Little Golden Books. Books are arranged along the shelves of the Reading Library for visitors to read and explore. Additional books displayed on low tables invite visitors to talk, play, and create. Wed – Fri 10am – 4pm Adult $15 Reading Library Amherst, MA More info |
Exhibits | Mid-Atlantic |
January 16, 2025 - May 10, 2025 | 200 Years of Blooks
Why, apart from its contents, is the physical book such a compelling and beloved object? My obsessive interest in books and in objects made in emulation of them began years ago with this question, and led to a comprehensive study of objects made in book form, from the humblest item to rare works of art. I refer to these objects by the convenient term blooks, a contraction of “book-look”. The goal of my studies and collecting endeavors is to determine the scope of the subject through the examination of thematic trends, makers and manufacturers, and object histories; to contextualize blooks within the realms of book history, material culture, and the arts; and to introduce the most interesting blook structures to artists and makers—Mindell Dubansky, Curator. This exhibition encourages today’s artists to see beyond the book’s traditional purpose, inviting them to explore the form’s rich potential for subversion, concealment, and narrative layering. Mon - Thu 11am - 6pm Center for Book Arts New York, NY More info |
Exhibits | Mid-Atlantic |