Some Illustrator! Pictures by Melissa Sweet

March 7 through “Safer-at-Home” closure March 25, 2020

Exuberant, delightful children’s book illustrations by Melissa Sweet, created in her signature watercolor and found-object collage style, comprise this exhibition of her award-winning biographical work. Sweet, based in Portland, Maine, has illustrated more than 100 books as well as created toys, puzzles, and games for eeBoo. Her work has been recognized with multiple awards including two Caldecott Honors for A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams and The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus.

Her recent book, Some Writer! The Story of E.B. White was a New York Times best seller; received an Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children, which recognizes books that demonstrate excellence as reviewed and awarded by the National Council of Teachers of English; and received a Boston Globe Horn Book Honor award. The title, Some Writer! The Story of E.B. White, riffs on White’s Charlotte’s Web and “Some Pig,” and also informs the title of the exhibition, Some Illustrator! Pictures by Melissa Sweet, organized by the National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature, Abilene, Texas.

Exhibition Highlights

Melissa Sweet, Listen to Our World, 2016, watercolor, handmade papers, and mixed media on watercolor paper, © 2016 Melissa Sweet. Some Illustrator! Pictures by Melissa Sweet was organized by the National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature, Abilene, Texas.

Melissa Sweet, Some Writer! The Story of E.B. White, 2016, watercolor, gouache, and mixed media, © 2016 Melissa Sweet. Some Illustrator! Pictures by Melissa Sweet was organized by the National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature, Abilene, Texas.

Melissa Sweet, Some Writer! The Story of E.B. White, 2016, mixed media collage, © 2016 Melissa Sweet. Some Illustrator! Pictures by Melissa Sweet was organized by the National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature, Abilene, Texas.

Melissa Sweet, Firefly July: A Year of Very Short Poems, 2014, watercolor, gouache, and mixed media on watercolor paper, © 2014 Melissa Sweet. Some Illustrator! Pictures by Melissa Sweet was organized by the National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature, Abilene, Texas.

Melissa Sweet, The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus, 2014, watercolor, gouache, collage, and mixed media, © 2014 Melissa Sweet. Some Illustrator! Pictures by Melissa Sweet was organized by the National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature, Abilene, Texas.

Melissa Sweet, A Splash of Red: The Life and Art of Horace Pippin, 2013, watercolor, gouache, and mixed media, © 2013 Melissa Sweet. Some Illustrator! Pictures by Melissa Sweet was organized by the National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature, Abilene, Texas.

Melissa Sweet, A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams, 2008, watercolor, collage, and mixed media, © 2008 Melissa Sweet. Some Illustrator! Pictures by Melissa Sweet was organized by the National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature, Abilene, Texas.

Melissa Sweet, The Boy Who Drew Birds: A Story of John James Audubon, 2004, watercolor and color pencil on watercolor paper, © 2004 Melissa Sweet. Some Illustrator! Pictures by Melissa Sweet was organized by the National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature, Abilene, Texas.

The Woodson Art Museum thanks members, donors, grantors, and sponsors who support the exhibition and programs. UMR is the presenting sponsor of L’Affichomania: The Passion for French Posters. Additional exhibition support comes from Alice W. and Joseph F. Smith, Jr. and also from Jim and Sue Konkel. Educational support comes from the Bell Family Charitable Foundation and WoodTrust Bank. Additional educational support comes from Tim and Cari Logemann. Exhibitions and programs are supported in part by a grant from the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts. Marketing supported in part by City of Wausau Room Tax funds. Support for hands-on art-making supplies comes from the Walmart Foundation.