By Carole Bodger Bon
Once upon a time, in the lands of Indi and ‘Ucky, there lived a boy and a girl.
The boy, who was called Joe, lived in rural Indiana, where he fell in love with books at the village library. “With book,” as he’d tell the tale.
“King Arthur: The Tales of the Round Table” transported young Joe to another place and time.
“Not being able to become a knight,” remembers the gallant lad, “I entered the world of Camelot by drawing.”
The girl, who was called Sarah, lived in the Ville of Louis, where she discovered her favorite books “by way of a friendly lightning bug and an ol’ elephant.” That is, a lightning bug, an elephant and the bookmobile at her elementary school, fair Sarah would explain, as it’s only fair to do. Ever after, she would describe reading as “magical” to all who would ask.
Years and years later, the boy and girl would grow up to share their love of drawing and reading with many other boys and girls, near and far, happily ever after.
And happily for us, this year they will do their sharing not far, but near. On March 7, Joe Lee and Sarah Hall will join 11 other book-loving artists to introduce whole families to The Art of Reading exhibit opening at New Albany’s Carnegie Center for Art and History.
Co-sponsored by the Community Alliance to Promote Education with support from the Community Foundation of Southern Indiana, PNC Foundation, Carnegie Center, Inc., Morris Images, Destinations Booksellers and other friends of literacy, the exhibit unites the local arts and learning communities in a playful collaboration of visual and literary delights that champions the role of family in children’s literacy growth and success.
Kids who read and who are read to perform better in school and do better in life, according to the National Education Association. The biggest impact occurs at early ages.
Exhibit benefactor Mike Waiz, president and chief executive officer of the Community Foundation of Southern Indiana — and a life-long fan of Dr. Seuss — says, “This is a great opportunity to expose youth to art and to reading and show them how both can be fun, not just schoolwork.”
Roots in reading
Carnegie Center director Sally Newkirk, a New Albany native with fond memories of visiting the location throughout her childhood, has served at its helm since 1988.
“We’re here to promote and encourage participation in the visual arts, but our roots are in the library system and in reading,” says the “Horton Hears a Who” enthusiast. “With our history and heritage, and CAPE’s mission to promote the importance of reading, the two go together hand-in-hand.”
The former location of the New Albany-Floyd County Public Library, the Carnegie Center for Art and History became a division of the library in 1988 and assumed its current name after an extensive restoration of the historic building was completed in 1999.
Becky King, project director for CAPE, an effort dedicated to supporting the development of literacy, first proposed the idea of this “celebration of art and reading” to Newkirk after hearing of a similar effort elsewhere. Not only was Newkirk receptive, but the Center had an unexpected opening in a schedule otherwise booked through 2010 — and it happened to fall on the very week of the NEA’s Read Across America Day to promote reading and literacy nationwide.
King’s favorite childhood book? No surprise: “The Little Engine That Could.”
The artists of reading
With a portion of the proceeds from all art sales going to benefit Carnegie Center, Inc., funding museum programming and exhibits, the works themselves range from charcoal portraiture to digital illustration. The artists: from freelance designers to museum department heads.
Designer and illustrator Zach Stewart has lived in New Albany “all but one year” of his life.
Allen Howie, who will join wife Lisa to lead Storybook Saturday among the exhibit’s many workshops, is the owner and creative force behind Idealogy Design + Advertising, located in an historic restored firehouse on State Street.
New Albany-born Claudia Hammer, whose hand-tinted print, “Spiderwick’s Adventures,” is featured on the Idealogy-designed program for the show, remembers the Carnegie’s summer reading program as “an annual treat” when the building was a library.
“I would not be doing what I do today if it weren’t for libraries,” says illustrator and author Joe Lee, based in Bloomington, the only participant who dwells beyond Kentuckiana borders.
Bryan Warren, a self-described “Swiss Army knife of art making,” sculpts, draws and paints when he’s not on the job as Associate Curator of Education at Louisville’s Speed Art Museum. The avid reader’s ink-and-wash portrayal of “The Great Readinis” conveys his philosophy in the title: “There is Never a Wrong Time to Read.”
“In their minds,” says Warren, “there is never a wrong time to read as a family.”
(Warren does himself, however, caution families against aerial bike riding and reading, at the same time!)
“I always wanted books with pictures in them,” remembers Marguerite Rice, whose “Saturday in Booktown” was inspired by the thought of “how nice it would be if everybody would take a day and turn off their cell phones, computers and televisions and get back to the joy of reading.”
In colorful pastel, the winner of last year’s St. James Court Art Show poster competition presents a diversified and happy crowd “reading all over the place.”
Castles and workshops and (book)worms
Christie Morris, a “three-dimensional artist, graphic designer and ventriloquist on the side,” began creating storybook realms for the delight of her two grandchildren (serendipitously bearing the surname Page).
For the exhibit, Morris is crafting a staunchly medieval edifice within the Carnegie’s walls: a 19-foot “fortress against illiteracy,” with books forming doorways and gables, arched towers and stone walls.
“I want children to step into a world books bring to life when they step into the castle of books.”
Pass through the Storybook Castle to gain entry to an activity area in which children are invited to create their own works of art for the gallery, craft whimsical bookmarks, write and illustrate their own books, or just snuggle in a cozy reading area provided by Carnegie’s Spring Street neighbor, Destinations Booksellers, which has also contributed 10 picture books to be raffled off to one lucky winner at the exhibit’s end.
Among the special events in store, Christie Morris’ colorful “Book Mark,” a puppet with Albert Einstein-inspired wild hair and fluffy mustache, will hold court. With Morris in the role of his companion “Page,” this brilliant and somewhat feisty bookworm designed especially for the show will encourage children of all ages to learn to read and persuade them to “get into” a book of their own.
And every child who attends the exhibit will receive one: their choice of a free, age-appropriate book compliments of funding by the PNC Foundation and carefully selected by CAPE.
“It’s been a beautiful story,” says CAPE’s Becky King, reflecting on the enthusiasm of the art and literacy communities in making the exhibit a reality.
“It’s a celebration of art and reading that we hope will reach and enrich families that haven’t had the pleasure of visiting the Carnegie Center before. We hope it’s going to be happily ever after.”
