Community Conversation with R. Gregory Christie
March 3, 2020 @ 8:00 am - 5:00 pm PST
March 5
5:30 pm
Antioch Seattle Campus
Join us on March 5, 2020, at 5:30 pm as we host award-winning illustrator, R. Gregory Christie. Mr. Christie will be leading a presentation about his books and about the importance of representation of people of color in children’s literature. AUS alumna Kyla Crawford, a teacher in the Tukwila School District, will lead a presentation about how to integrate Mr. Christie’s books into the classroom.
Email questions to [email protected].
Background
For the past five years, Antioch University Seattle School of Education has hosted a renowned children’s literature author or illustrator of color in Seattle schools through the Multicultural Children’s Literature Celebration. The primary mission of this project, under the Antioch University Seattle School of Education’s Social Justice Initiative, is to bring young readers and the authors of great literary works together to demonstrate the power of story in their lives and to help ensure ALL children know that they are visible and honored.
2020 Multicultural Children’s Literature Celebration Illustrator:
As part of the Seattle School District’s celebration of Black History Month, this year we are honored to host R. Gregory Christie, renowned, multi-award-winning children’s illustrator.
Here are just a few of the awards R. Gregory Christie has received:
- NAACP Image Award Winner
- Caldecott Honor Winner for Freedom in Congo Square, 2016
- 6 Time Coretta Scott King Honor recipient (see Richland Library, Columbia, SC write-up)
- 6 Time Recipient of the New York Times 10 Best Children’s Illustrated Award
- Boston Globe’s Hornbook Award winner
- New York City subway art viewed by 1 billion people in 2013
Christie has published over 50 books for children. His dynamic works offer glimpses of important and universal themes around which all children benefit and whose lives are more greatly enriched by his works. Themes include freedom, African Americans’ victory over injustice, and biographies of great African American leaders. In addition, Gregory owns and operates a multicultural children’s bookstore in which he features authors from all walks of life to participate in providing literature to children.
When R. Gregory Christie received the Caldecott Honor Award for his stunning art in Freedom in Congo Square in 2016, he stated in response in an interview following, “This is a time when the work spoke back through a Caldecott committee honor selection. I wondered what it would mean for this book and for my career. Would it be in more classrooms; would it change the definition of this book from a Black History month’s subject title into an American history’s subject title.” In inviting R. Gregory Christie to join us in the final extra day, this leap year, February 29, 2020, and the week following, we hope Christie’s visit will enrich the lives of hundreds of Seattle School children.
International Reviews of R. Gregory Christie’s Art
New York Times children’s book reviewer, Maria Russo describes Christie’s art as, “as always, breathtaking, uniting folk art and sleek modern gestures with a graceful dynamism that calls to mind Jacob Lawrence and Benny Andrews.”