Bryan Collier Biography

Winner of two prestigious awards namely: The Ezra Jack Keats Book Award and The Coretta Scott King Award, Bryan Collier is the author and illustrator of Uptown. He is also the illustrator of Rosa by Nikki Giovanni and Martin’s Big Words by Doreen Rappaport, both of which are Caldecott Honor Books. He has won six King Awards as an illustrator and he is a four-time Caldecott honor recipient. Collier was a U.S. nominee for the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2014 because of his lifetime contribution as a Children’s illustrator. Collier’s art was called “breathtakingly beautiful” by the Chicago Sun Times. Collier uses a unique technique of combining watercolors with collage. The first thing he does before creating the illustrations is a photo shoot of either his family or friends acting out the story. Sometimes he uses up to ten rolls of film. He believes that by having people act out a story, it shows him the important gestures that illuminate the scenes. Collier received a scholarship through a national talent competition through the Pratt Institute in New York City, one of the leading art schools in the United States. He later graduated from Pratt with honors. While at Pratt, he was a volunteer at the Harlem Horizon Art Studio located within the Harlem Hospital Center. The center is open to the children of the hospital as well as the children of the community. He later became the Program Director for twelve years. He lives in Harlem in New York City with his family.

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