Richard Yarde: Stompin at the Savoy

Richard Yarde was one of the foremost watercolor painters working in America. A passionate lover of music and dance, he found inspiration in the irrepressible energy of the Savoy Ballroom, which from 1926 to 1958 was home to great dancers and musicians of the swing era. In creating his first book for children (2006), Yarde teamed up with author Bebe Moore Campbell to tell a story rooted in the themes and symbols of the African American experience. Yarde was a professor of art at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.