At the young age of 33, Kadir Nelson has already received several of the highest awards in the country for the illustration of picture books, including the Coretta Scott King Award for Illustration and the Caldecott Honor Medal. In addition, Nelson has collaborated on book projects with several prominent black celebrities including Spike Lee, Debbie Allen and Will Smith to produce colorful, engaging books for young readers.

Now Nelson's works are on display at the Akron Art Museum in Picturing the African American Experience: Children's Book Illustrations by Kadir Nelson, which features 22 pieces from the artist's personal collection, used in his picture books. This exhibit was originally featured at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art in 2005. Museum curator Alison Caplan explained that the Akron Museum caught wind of it and wanted to bring it here. The Fort Wayne exhibit featured works from Nelson's book Ellington Was Not a Street, and between that time and now, Nelson has updated the exhibit with illustrations from some of his newer books.

Nelson was recently in town for the Akron Art Museum's Family Drop-In Day, and as he explained, "Art is part of my genetic makeup, part of my DNA. I don't know if I had a choice to do something else." Nelson's talent lies in his use of pencils, oils and watercolors to achieve intimate, almost cinematic close-ups in illustrations that capture the universal emotions of fear, despair, hope and wonder. As a child, Nelson enjoyed drawing and was encouraged by his family. And as a father with two daughters of his own and another child on the way, he said it's just as important to nurture their gifts, whether it be writing or drawing, or something else.

Both of Nelson's parents had the ability to draw, but neither pursued the arts. After his mother saw Nelson's gift, she urged him to pursue it. Nelson's parents sent him to his uncle's house for the summer, who was an artist. Nelson studied as his apprentice, "and that really kind of set me on my way," Nelson says. "I ended up taking art classes and was far ahead of the other students because I had had more training and practiced all the time."

But Nelson wasn't sure that he could pursue a career as an artist - he didn't want to be a starving artist. He was awarded a scholarship to study architecture, which he considered a "real" job, but found himself uninterested and changed his major after a semester without looking back.

Nelson says he always wanted to be a gallery artist, but after graduating from college, he was offered an opportunity he couldn't pass up - a job in visual development and concept art at DreamWorks studio for the movie Amistad. And it was at DreamWorks that he met the movie's producer, Debbie Allen, who had a story book she wanted to enlist Nelson to illustrate.

"My contract with DreamWorks was just ending, and I wasn't sure what I was going to do, and she presented me with this opportunity. I was a little hesitant because I wanted to be a gallery artist, but it all worked out."

And Nelson's illustrations for Allen's Dancing in the Wings, really did work out. He is now the illustrator of nearly 20 children's books. Visitors to the Akron Art Museum's exhibition will want to linger over the dramatic original drawings from six of Nelson's earlier picture book titles, but the highlight of the experience can be found in the large unframed canvases from his newest book, We Are the Ship. Due to be released in January, this book portrays two teams from the Negro Baseball League as they battle to win the 1924 Colored World Series. Nelson's illustrations capture the individual personalities of the players and the excitement of the event using vibrant, passionate colors.

Caplan explains, "Although he's displayed his work at other museums, our show is kind of unique because it features works from Nelson's upcoming book, We Are the Ship. It's a huge jump for Nelson because he both wrote and illustrated the book. The book's subject, the history of Negro League Baseball, has allowed him to really push himself as an artist and showcase his mastery of oil paint."

Nelson says his work is influenced by artists such as Thomas Blackshear and Norman Rockwell (whose work will, coincidentally, be on display at the Akron Art Museum beginning November 10). Although Nelson says really does look to the masters from long ago for inspiration, he fondly remembers his favorite book as a child, Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are. However, he explains, there's no real distinction for him between painting and illustrating. "I want to be known as a master of my craft, whether it be illustration or painting," he says.

In Nelson's artistic vision, historic figures are rendered as human beings first and foremost despite their legendary status. "One thing that's great about Kadir's work is that it highlights historic figures and pop-culture icons that both children and adults may have overlooked. He breathes new life into icons," Caplan says. For example, Nelson's portrait of Harriet Tubman (from Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led her People to Freedom) helps the present-day viewer to share in her remarkable solitary moments of determination and courage. And his painting of Duke Ellington (from Ellington Was Not a Street) shows the late jazz legend in such a warm light, it feels as if we know him intimately.

"I've always felt a self-appointed responsibility to depict African Americans in a very positive light," Nelson says. "I think it is important for us to see positive images of ourselves. And today if you look at contemporary images of African Americans, particularly African-American males, it's not always positive. But it's important to have heroes. I hope a kid can look in my books and see him or herself in a positive way."

Although Nelson could not pick just one painting in this exhibit that is his favorite, he does share that his favorite book is always the book he's working on now, which is about Abraham Lincoln, called Abe's Honest Words and written by Doreen Rappaport.

This visually stunning and all-too-brief exhibit makes a visit to the new museum well worth the drive from Cleveland. "There's something really special about having your work displayed in a museum. It might look one way on the wall at home or on an easel, but when you see how it's positioned in a gallery, and specifically in a museum like this, it's a lot more special," Nelson says. This exhibit is made possible by an Ohio Arts Council gift, and Nelson shared that he has an upcoming traveling exhibit from We Are the Ship. It is slated to open in Kansas City, home of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.

Deborah McHamm is the president and CEO of A Cultural Exchange, a non-profit literacy-based multicultural arts organization for children in Cleveland. Mercier Robinson is the literacy coordinator for the Cleveland Public Library. Alice Allen is director of programming at A Cultural Exchange.

Picturing the African American Experience
Illustrations by Kadir Nelson
Akron Art Museum
1 S. High St., Akron
330.376.9185