Calvin to Host Prestigious African American Artist

March 14, 2008 == MEDIA ADVISORY

Summary: Calvin will host both the work of a prestigious artist and the
award-winning artist himself this month and next.

Full story see
http://www.calvin.edu/news/releases/2007-08/kadir-nelson-exhibition.html

This spring, the Center Art Gallery will be hosting "Beauty of the Spirit," an
exhibition of the work of renowned African-American artist and illustrator
Kadir Nelson.

The exhibition will be held March 17 through April 19, 2008. The final days
will coincide with Calvin's April 17-19 Festival of Faith and Writing where
Nelson will be a featured speaker. The gallery will also host a book signing by
Nelson at the exhibition reception on Friday, April 18.

"Kadir Nelson is connected with very diverse and intriguing realms of the art
world," said Calvin director of exhibitions Joel Zwart. "We're glad to have the
opportunity to expand on his festival appearance by hosting his work."

Nelson is the illustrator of children's books such as the Caldecott Honor
Award-winning Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom and
Henry’s Freedom Box. His recent book We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro
League Baseball is a thoroughgoing history of that league, celebrating the
athletic achievements of the players, the distinctiveness of their game and the
racism that dogged them at every turn. (Images from the book were featured in
the March 10, 2008 issue of Sports Illustrated.)

"We Are the Ship is a tour de force," said Calvin English professor Donald
Hettinga, a coordinator of the Festival of Faith and Writing. "The paintings
present bold studies of the players and the games done with a maturity and
liveliness that's reminiscent of the era, a time that was, essentially, the
heyday of magazine illustration."

Several of the works in "Beauty of the Spirit" are representative of Nelson's
interest in themes of African American history, Zwart noted.

"There's that deep interest in things that are important to the African
American community, stories that need to be told, and I think the illustrations
he does for these stories have a quiet spirit of strength because they're often
about resilience and a striving to overcome."

Contact Joel Zwart at 616-526-6271 or jhz2@calvin.edu

-end-
Received on Thu Mar 13 22:15:44 2008