Jerry Pinkney

Jerry Pinkney was one of America’s most admired children’s book illustrators. He won the Caldecott Medal and five Caldecott Honors, five Coretta Scott King Awards, the Coretta Scott King–Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement, the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award, the Society of Illustrators’ Original Art Show Lifetime Achievement Award, and many other prizes and honors. He illustrated over 100 books since 1964, including picture books, nonfiction titles and novels. His works addressed diverse themes and were usually done in watercolors. Jerry died on October 20, 2021 at the age of 81.

One could not live and grow up around Jerry Pinkney’s studio without being inspired to perform creative acts and works. Pipe cleaner stick figures, drawings, paintings, weavings, pottery, teaching, photography, silver designs, millinery designs, fashion styling, recorded singing, drumming, professional dancing, social working, art directing, ministering, and the illustrating and authoring of conscientious literature for children and adults. To date, Jerry’s zeal in using his God-given talents to create good things for the world has touched four generations. What a blessed legacy.


Gloria Pinkney
Gloria Jean Pinkney and Jerry Pinkney were friends for sixty-four years, married for sixty-one years, and are parents of artistic offspring. Over the years, they worked together on numerous projects. She is the writer of five published books for the whole family. Howbeit, her greatest accomplishment is her call to ministry and the writing of In The Forest of Your Remembrance. This spiritual book embodies thirty-three true tellings of everyday miracles, causing readers to question their own lives and reflect on whether or not what happened was a mere coincidence or a message from God. Gloria has documented extraordinary evidence in this exhibit, proof of her encounters with the Holy One.

Troy Pinkney
Troy Pinkney has over 30 years of experience in Child Life, including directing several child life programs in the tri-state area. She has been the director of the Child Life Masters Program at Bank Street College since 2004. In 2015 she developed and implemented the Online Masters Program in Child Life, which is now entering its 7th year. Racial consciousness has been integral to her personal and professional commitment to the College and the greater community. Troy has been conducting presentations centering race and its impact on the identity development of children, youth, and families. She pursues art in her leisure time to process the world around her.

Brian Pinkney
As a child, Brian Pinkney loved drawing pictures on every piece of paper he could find. He also loved watching his father, Jerry Pinkney, illustrate books for children. Brian couldn’t wait to grow up and do the same thing.
Today Brian Pinkney is a New York Times bestselling illustrator who has illustrated numerous books for young readers, including two Caldecott Honor Books, The Faithful Friend by Robert D. San Souci and Duke Ellington by Andrea Davis Pinkney, his wife, and frequent collaborator.
Brian has been awarded the Coretta Scott King Honor Award for illustration on three occasions and the Coretta Scott King medal for In the Time of the Drums by Kim Siegelson. He is a five-time NAACP Image Award nominee, the recipient of many American Library Association Notable Book citations, and was acknowledged by the National Council for Teachers of English for his vast contribution to the field of children’s literature.  
Not only is Brian a visual artist. He is also a writer who has authored several acclaimed picture books based on his own experiences and interests. These include The Adventures of Sparrowboy, winner of the Boston Globe/Horn Book Award, Max Found Two Sticks, hailed by The Horn Book as one of the classic children’s books of all time. On the Ball; Cosmo and the Robot, and JoJo’s Flying Side Kick. Brian’s books have been translated into numerous languages, thus reaching a broad and diverse mix of children.

Scott Pinkney
After attending The Columbus College of Art and Design and graduating from Pratt Institute in NYC, Scott would pursue a career in advertising and design. He has worked at some of the biggest agency brands in New York, the UK, and finally, Toronto, where Scott is an SVP, and Executive Creative Director at Publicis Hawkeye. While this keeps Scott busy, he has never lost his passion for fine art. Painting for over 25 years, Scott has had the privilege to exhibit his fine art and has an online gallery scottpinkney.com. His medium of choice: oil pastels, acrylics, and pencil. His paper of choice, the same as his father’s — Arches watercolor paper. Using a collection of scratch tools allows Scott to add fine detail and texture, bringing each piece to life.

Myles Pinkney
When Myles Pinkney was in middle school, he discovered photography. Despite his interest in painting, photography quickly became his favorite way of capturing life’s images. Myles worked as a photojournalist for newspapers and magazines before opening his portrait and freelance photography studio. In 2000, Myles and his wife, Sandra L. Pinkney, teamed up to produce Shades of Black, a photoillustrated children’s book that won numerous awards. In 2002, they published A Rainbow All Around Me, another photo-illustrated book from Scholastic that celebrates the racial diversity of children. This newest book was nominated for the NAACP Image Award.

Gloria Johnson
Gloria Johnson is a fashion stylist from New York City. Her background is in fashion design, illustration, image consulting, makeup artist, creative director, stylist, journalist, and editor. Her styling has appeared in the following publications, Schon, Italian Vogue, Elle, Esquire, Numero, L’Officiel, Flaunt, Cosmo Magazine, and Nylon, to name a few. All her various skills have made it possible to be a stylist and an editor who can see the complete picture illustrated through her choice of clothing and design for her magazine and creative work.

Charnelle Pinkney Barlow
Charnelle Pinkney Barlow is an illustrator and expert tea drinker. Born and raised in Poughkeepsie, New York, was surrounded by art daily. Her passion for illustration grew after being introduced to the wonderful world of watercolor. This led her to combine the joy she found in books with her love of drawing and painting. Her debut children’s book Just Like a Mama by Alice Faye Duncan was nominated for Children’s Outstanding Literary Work at the 52nd NAACP Image Awards. She received her BFA in Illustration from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 2010 and her MFA as Visual Essay from the School of Visual Arts in New York, New York, in 2012. Charnelle currently lives in central Illinois with her husband. When she’s not drawing, she is baking, sewing or reading with a cup of tea by her side.

Zion Johnson
Zion is the oldest great-grandchild of Jerry and Gloria Pinkney, the grandchild of Troy Pinkney, and the daughter of Gloria Johnson, Zion is a high school student at Spire School in Stamford, CT. In addition to the visual arts, Zion is a singer after the tradition of her great-grandmother.