Raúl Colón, Illustration for Child of the Civil Rights Movement by Paula Young Shelton. Collection of R. Michelson Galleries, Northampton, Massachusetts. © 2009 Raul Colón. Used by permission of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved.
Freedom’s Story
Picture the Dream: The Story of the Civil Rights Movement through Children’s Books highlights an era that shaped America—the struggle for human rights, the brave individuals who met that challenge, and the path that leads to a greater understanding of true justice. It is tentatively scheduled to open this winter
Picture the Dream: The Story of the Civil Rights Movement through Children’s Books highlights an era that shaped America—the struggle for human rights, the brave individuals who met that challenge, and the path that leads to a greater understanding of true justice. It is tentatively scheduled to open this winter. (Check carlemuseum.org for updates.)
The first exhibition of its kind, Picture the Dream delves into the events, people, and themes of the civil rights movement as told through picture books. Featuring original art by today’s most beloved children’s book artists as well as work by talented newcomers, the exhibition weaves a visual tapestry to guide children through the turbulent landscape of the time.
The year 2020 marks the anniversary of several key events. Sixty-five years ago, in 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a segregated Montgomery, Alabama, bus. Five years later, Ruby Bridges integrated her New Orleans elementary school, and four black college students catalyzed the sit-in movement at the segregated Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina. Picture the Dream emphasizes children’s roles as activists and tells important stories about the movement’s icons, including Parks, Bridges, Fannie Lou Hamer, Congressman John Lewis, Ambassador Andrew Young Jr., and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
“Working with the creative teams on this exhibition has underscored for me the power that picture books have to reach readers of all ages,” says guest curator Andrea Davis Pinkney, a Carle trustee and a New York Times-best-selling, award-winning children’s book author.
Picture the Dream is co-organized with the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Georgia, where the show is scheduled to debut this summer. The exhibition features work by 44 artists, including Benny Andrews, Bryan Collier, Raúl Colón, Floyd Cooper, R. Gregory Christie, Ekua Holmes, Kadir Nelson, Brian Pinkney, Jerry Pinkney, Nate Powell, and Faith Ringgold. In partnership with the High Museum, the Alliance Theatre at the Woodruff Arts Center is also scheduled to present the world-premiere play Sit-In, based on Andrea Pinkney’s book Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down. Picture the Dream is the fifth exhibition partnership between the High and The Carle.