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The Original Art 2023: The Exhibit
October 26, 2023 - January 27, 2024
The Museum of Illustration at the Society of Illustrators is proud to present The Original Art, an annual exhibit celebrating the fine art of children’s book illustration, on display from Wednesday, October 25, 2023 – Saturday, January 27, 2024.
Founded in 1980 by illustrators’ agent and art director Dilys Evans, this exhibit showcases original art from the year’s best children’s books as determined by a jury of outstanding illustrators, art directors, and editors. The jury awards Gold and Silver medals to the top pieces and the Dilys Evans Founders Award to the most promising newcomer to the field.
The 2023 Gold Medal is awarded to Felicita Sala for her work on As Night Falls: Creatures That Go Wild After Dark (RHCB/PRH / Random House Studio). Silver Medals are awarded to Marla Frazee for The Great Zapfino (Simon & Schuster / Beach Lane Books) and Victoria Tentler-Krylov for I’m Gonna Paint: Ralph Fasanella, Artist of the People (Holiday House).
The Original Art honors exceptional children’s book artists in two other award categories each year.
The Dilys Evans Founder’s Award celebrates the year’s most promising new talent in the field. The 2023 jury has selected X. Fang for Dim Sum Palace (Tundra Book Group/ Tundra Books)
The Lifetime Achievement Awards recognize artists whose body of work documents an innovative and pioneering contribution to the field. Nominees in two categories, Contemporary and Posthumous, are put forward by past chairs of The Original Art. Then the winners are selected by artists whose work has been juried into the show in previous years. The recipients of the 2023 Lifetime Achievement Awards are William Joyce and Dahlov Ipcar.
Selected books, medal recipients, and award winners will be recognized and honored during the Awards Ceremony and Reception, to be held on Thursday, November 9, beginning at 6:00 pm.
The Society will be hosting several community events in addition to educational programs for K-12 students for the duration of the exhibit. Dates and descriptions will be posted soon.