Tenacity & Resilience: The Art of Jerry Pinkney

Honoring the work of Jerry Pinkney (1939-2021), Tenacity & Resilience: The Art of Jerry Pinkney features more than seventy illustrations, dummy books, and working drawings from seven children’s books from 1993 to 2020. The works encompass issues of social justice, resilience, and tenacity in the face of adversity. They convey powerful messages related to the history of the Civil Rights Movement in America as well as personal tales of courage and aspiration. The range of works reveals Pinkney’s multifaceted talents as an inspired master watercolorist, draftsman, and storyteller.

The books represented in this show include Minty (1996), a story of Harriet Tubman in her youth, and A Place to Land: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Speech that Inspired a Nation (2019). Works from the following children’s books are also featured: I Want to Be (1993); Goin’ Someplace Special (2001); God Bless the Child (2004); Sweethearts of Rhythm (2009); and The Little Mermaid (2020).

This exhibition has been generously underwritten in part by the Pollack Family Foundation, Gail Bryan, LaRuth Hackney Gray, ​and additional supporters who cherish and respect Jerry Pinkney and his important legacy. Tenacity & Resilience: The Art of Jerry Pinkney was organized by Gail Stavitsky, Chief Curator, Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, New Jersey.