The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art Presents Kadir Nelson's Original Paintings

Written by Everett Kincaid Tuesday, 07 February 2012 02:36

Amherst, MA.- The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art is pleased to present "We are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball, Original Paintings by Kadir Nelson ", scheduled to open on February 7th and run through June 10th 2012. Award-winning artist and author Kadir Nelson spent seven years researching, writing, and creating striking oil paintings to be included in the brilliantly illustrated book, 'We are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball', which is dedicated to the preservation of the history of the Negro Leagues. During the process of creating the book, Nelson interviewed former Negro League players, traveled to museums around the country, pored over old photographs, firsthand testimonies and documentaries, and collected baseball memorabilia. He posed and photographed himself in original uniforms with the intention of putting himself in the shoes of a former Negro Leaguer to recreate an authentic depiction of life in baseball’s Negro Leagues.

What makes this exhibition so outstanding are the dozens of oil paintings, breathtaking in their perspectives, rich in emotion, and created with understanding and affection for these lost heroes of our national game. The work tells the story of Negro League baseball: the gifted athletes and determined owners; the racial discrimination and international sportsmanship; the fortunes won and lost; the triumphs and defeats on and off the field. It is a perfect mirror for the social and political history of black America in the first half of the twentieth century. Most of all, though, it is about the hundreds of unsung athletes who overcame segregation, hatred, terrible conditions, and low pay to do the one thing they loved more than anything else in the world: play ball. Kadir Nelson tells the story of Negro League baseball from its beginnings in the 1920s through its decline after Jackie Robinson crossed over to the majors in 1947. The exhibition in Amherst, MA is part of a national tour over a two and a half year period, containing approximately thirty-three paintings and thirteen sketches from 'We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball'. The tour was developed and managed by Smith Kramer Fine Art Services, an exhibition tour development company in Kansas City, Missouri. The New York Times named 'We Are the Ship' one of the Best Illustrated Children's Books of 2008, and Nelson was honored with the 2009 Coretta Scott King Book Award for this work. This exhibition will complement the Central Gallery’s exhibition, "Testing the Ice: A True Story About Jackie Robinson" which opened on December 13th 2011 and will run through May 6th 2012 and also illustrated by Nelson. Daughter Sharon Robinson's story is about an incident that happened in her family after her father retired from baseball. "He was brave when he went out on the ice and he was brave when he went on the baseball field," Nelson said. "My role is really like a documentarian and an author. I shed light on pieces of history that don't always get as much attention as they deserve."


The mission of The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art is to inspire, especially in children and their families, an appreciation for and an understanding of the art of the picture book. In fulfilling this mission, they aspire to build bridges to an appreciation of art of every kind and to provide an enriching, dynamic, and supportive context for the development of literacy. The museum delivers on this mission by collecting, presenting and celebrating the art of the picture book from around the world and by providing interactive experiences and programs that are engaging and educational. Together with his wife Barbara, Eric Carle , the renowned author and illustrator of more than 70 books, including the 1969 classic The Very Hungry Caterpillar, founded The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art as the first full-scale museum in this country devoted to national and international picture book art, conceived and built with the aim of celebrating the art we know first. Through the exploration of images that are familiar and beloved, it is the Museum’s goal to foster connections between visual and verbal literacy and to provide visitors of all ages and backgrounds with the opportunity to explore their own creativity and the confidence to appreciate and enjoy art of every kind. The Museum’s 40,000 square-foot building houses three Galleries dedicated to rotating exhibitions of picture book art from around the world; a hands-on Art Studio for creating masterpieces of one’s own; an Auditorium for performances, films, and lectures; a comfortable Library for reading and storytelling; a Café with a vending machine for snacks; and a Museum Shop stocked with creative gifts and old and new picture book favorites. The Museum is located in Amherst and situated in the heart of the Five College area of Western Massachusetts where Eric Carle has lived and worked for more than 25 years. The Museum was incorporated in January 2001 and received its non-profit status in September 2001. Since its opening on November 22, 2002, the Museum has welcomed over 416,000 visitors—including nearly 30,000 school children—held over 100 workshops and classes for caregivers, teachers and other professionals (2,000+ participants), and presented 57 exhibits in its three rotating exhibition galleries. Visit the museum's website at ... http://www.carlemuseum.org

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