Beautiful Blackbird Children’s Festival
Saturday, September 17
Free | 1:00–3:00
Center for Maine Contemporary Art + Farnsworth Art Museum

Midcoast Beautiful Blackbird Children’s Festival 2022 

Join the Center for Maine Contemporary Art and Farnsworth Art Museum for an afternoon read aloud and art activities! Artist Veronica Perez will join us at the CMCA courtyard to read a selection of books followed by art making workshops in the ArtLab and Gamble Education Center. Galleries will be open at the Farnsworth featuring solo exhibit Ashley Bryan: Beauty in Return. Artists of all ages are encouraged to attend this free event!

Schedule of events:
1:00 – 2:00 Veronica Perez read aloud at CMCA courtyard
2:00 – 3:00 Workshops in ArtLab + Gamble Learning Center
3:00 – 5:00 Ashley Bryan: Beauty in Return exhibit on view at Farnsworth Art Museum

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This year’s festival, honoring the legacy of Black children’s book creator and artist Ashley Bryan, will feature a 4,500 book giveaway, the production of acclaimed media, and live events in Portland, Lewiston, and Rockland. Each featured book and event will provide an opportunity for young readers of color to see themselves reflected in literature created with them in mind and to interact with the authors and illustrators as role models and storytellers. 

The Beautiful Blackbird Children’s Book Festival was founded in 2020 by Indigo Arts Alliance in partnership with I’m Your Neighbor Books and Diverse BookFinder and is produced with the 2022 partners: The Children’s Museum & Theatre of Maine, Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Ridah Ridah, the Farnsworth Museum, LA Arts, and the Lewiston Public Library. 

This year’s festival holds special significance as Ashley Bryan, best known for his picture book Beautiful Blackbird, passed away in February of this year. Throughout his career, Bryan’s passion for amplifying the legacy of African and African American knew no bounds. It was that same passion that inspired Indigo Arts Alliance to create the Beautiful Blackbird Children’s Book Festival, honoring his legacy of uplifting Black roots, identity, and resiliency.