Kadir Nelson

Kadir Nelson is an award-winning African American artist and illustrator. Born in Washington D.C., he is a graduate of Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY and lives in San Diego, CA with his family. Nelson received his bachelors in fine arts, graduating with honors, and has since worked with major publishers and production studios such as Dreamworks, Sports Illustrated, Coca-Cola, "The New York Times" and Major League Baseball, among others. He is also a two-time Caldecott Award winner.

Nelson has also exhibited his artwork in galleries and museums throughout the United States and abroad, including the Museum of Tolerance and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Los Angeles, The Museum of African American History in Detroit, the Anacostia Museum in Washington DC, the Society of Illustrators and the Studio Museum in Harlem in New York, The Bristol Museum in England, The Citizen's Gallery of Yokohama, Japan and the Center for Culture of Tijuana, Mexico.

Many of his paintings can be found in the private collections of actors, professional athletes and musicians including Debbie Allen, Denzel Washington, Steven Spielberg, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, Berry Gordy, Sharon Stone, Spike and Tonya Lee, Terry Lewis, Jalen Rose, Venus Williams and Queen Latifah. His paintings have also decorated the sets of television sitcoms "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air" and "The Jamie Foxx Show," as well as feature films "Friday", "Set It Off" and "The Beauty Shop". Most notably, Nelson was the "Conceptual Artist" for Steven Spielberg's feature film, "Amistad", and the Oscar nominated animated feature "".

Nelson has also collaborated with several notable authors on a series of picture books. Presently, over a dozen children's books are in print including the most recent "Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom", by Carole Boston Weatherford, Debbie Allen's "Dancing in the Wings", the Coretta Scott King Award Book, "Ellington Was Not a Street", by Ntozake Shange, New York Times bestsellers "Salt in His Shoes" and "Please, Puppy, Please" by Deloris and Roslyn Jordan and Spike and Tonya Lee, and Will Smith's "Just the Two of Us", for which Nelson won an NAACP Image Award.

Bibliography

* "' [http://www.wearetheship.com WE ARE THE SHIP:The Story of Negro League Baseball] " by Kadir Nelson, Hyperion/Jump at the Sun, 2008.
* "Henry's Freedom Box" by Ellen Levine. Scholastic, 2007.
* " [http://www.simonsays.com/content/book.cfm?tab=1&pid=524349 Michael's Golden Rules] " by Deloris and Roslyn Jordan, Michael Jordan. Simon and Schuster, 2007.
* " [http://www.hyperionbooksforchildren.com/board/displaybook.asp?id=1733 Moses: When Harrriet Tubman Led her People to Freedom] " by Carole Boston Weatherford. Jump at the Sun, 2006
* " [http://us.penguingroup.com/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780803728509,00.html He’s Got the Whole World in his Hands] " by Kadir Nelson. Dial, 2005.
* " [http://shop.scholastic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=58267&langId=-1&storeId=10001&catalogId=10004&sa_campaign=internal_ads/scholastic3_0/search/ The Real Slam Dunk] " by Charisse Richardson. Dial, 2005.
* " [http://www.simonsays.com/content/book.cfm?tab=1&pid=503004/ Hewitt Anderson’s Great Big Life] " by Jerdine Nolen. Simon and Schuster, 2005.
* " [http://www.simonsays.com/content/book.cfm?tab=1&pid=512062 Please, Puppy, Please] " by Spike and Tonya Lee. Simon and Schuster, 2005.
* " [http://www.simonsays.com/content/book.cfm?tab=1&pid=410252 Ellington was not a Street] " by Ntozake Shange. Simon and Schuster, 2004.
* " [http://content.scholastic.com/browse/book.jsp?id=3742 Tales from Shakespeare] " by Tina Packer. Scholastic, 2004.
* "Thunder Rose" by Jerdine Nolen. Harcourt, 2003.
* " [http://www.simonsays.com/content/book.cfm?tab=1&pid=516046 Please, Baby, Please] " by Spike and Tonya Lee. Simon and Schuster, 2002.
* "Under the Christmas Tree" by Nikki Grimes. Harper Collins, 2002.
* " [http://us.penguingroup.com/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780803726239,00.html The Village that Vanished] " by Ann Grifalconi. Dial, 2002.
* " [http://content.scholastic.com/browse/book.jsp?id=2437 Just the Two of Us] " by Will Smith. Scholastic, 2001.
* " [http://us.penguingroup.com/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780803725010,00.html Dancing in the Wings] " by Debbie Allen. Dial, 2000.
* " [http://www.simonsays.com/content/book.cfm?tab=1&pid=411354 Salt in His Shoes] " by Deloris and Roslyn Jordan. Simon and Schuster, 2000.
* " [http://harpercollins.com/books/9780060540616/Big_Jabe/index.aspx Big Jabe] " by Jerdine Nolen. Harper Collins, 2000.
* " [http://us.penguingroup.com/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780803724884,00.html Brothers of the Knight] " by Debbie Allen. Dial, 1999.

External links

* [http://www.wearetheship.com/ WE ARE THE SHIP Official book Website]
* [http://www.kadirnelson.com/ The Official Website of Kadir Nelson]
* [http://www.blackartdepot.com/kadirnelson-bio.htm Artist Biography and Links to Additional Kadir Nelson News and Interviews]
* [http://www.childrensbookradio.com/childrensbookradiopodcast28.mp3 December 3, 2007 Audio Interview with Kadir Nelson]