A Carnival of Animals: Beasts, Birds and Bugs in Original Illustrations from Children’s Books will be on view at the Ohio Arts Council’s Riffe Gallery January 29 through April 18, 2004. The exhibition includes 80 works by artists from the United States and abroad. An opening reception and Family Day will be held on Sunday, February 1, 2004, from 2-4 p.m. Free tours, art activities and light refreshments will be offered. The event is free and open to the public. Drawn from the historic Mazza Collection at the University of Findlay (Ohio), A Carnival of Animals invites viewers to explore art in children's literature and helps to deepen their understanding of the process by which original art becomes part of a printed book. Viewers will be greeted by the sometimes whimsical, sometimes dramatic and always tender portrayals of the animal world. The exhibition also aims to remind visitors of all ages of the profound connections between humans and animals and the importance of safeguarding the world’s precious natural resources.
Featured artists include Cecil Aldin, Martha Alexander, Jim Arnosky, Norman Bridwell, Marcia Brown, Ashley Bryan, Harrison Cady, Randolph Caldecott, Christopher Canyon, Marta Carrasco, Tony Chen, Lynne Cherry, Victoria Chess, Barbara Cooney, Helen Craig, Etienne Delessert, Debbie Dieneman, Rebecca Emberley, Barbara Garrison, Arthur Geisert, Hardie Gramatky, Devis Grebu, Marylin Hafner, Michael Hague, Gail Haley, Ruth Heller, Will Hillenbrand, Syd Hoff, Troy Howell, Woodleigh Marx Hubbard, Ann James, Faith Jaques, Ann Jonas, Lois Mailou Jones, David H. Jorgensen, Gloria Kamen, Maryann Kovalski, Dorothy Lathrop, Deborah Nourse Lattimore, Dawn Lauck, Lois Lenski, Paul Owen Lewis, Leonard Lubin, Melissa Bay Mathis, Edward McCandlish, Michael McCurdy, James Melvin, Wendell Minor, Lynn Munsinger, Carol Nicklaus, Charles Nuttall, Ib Spang Olsen, Tracey Campbell Pearson, Merle Peek, Daniel Powers, "Alice Martin" Provensen, Ted Rand, Robert Rayevsky, James Rice, Feodor Rojankovsky, Yuri Salzman, Willy Schermele, Helen Siegl, Robin Spowart, Diane Stanley, Vladimir Vagin, Kris Waldherr, Watson Watson, Jerome Wexler, Mary Whyte, Brian Wildsmith, Rodger Wilson, and Sophia Zarambouka.