The Hellerstein Literary Reading and Lecture Series at MassArt 

Connected Legacies: The Making of Children’s Books

April 17, 2025, 5-7 p.m.

5:00-5:30 p.m. Reception with Refreshments, DMC Atrium

Hands-on special project with MassArt's sparc! the ArtMobile team, Godine Library’s display of children’s books, and more.

5:30-7:00 p.m. Ekua Holmes and Autumn Allen: Talks and Conversation, Tower Auditorium 

Ekua Holmes is a native of Roxbury, MA and a graduate of the Massachusetts College of Art and Design. As an artist, designer, and as an illustrator of children’s literature, she has become a keen observer of her environment and repeatedly chooses it as her subject matter.

Her work features memories and contemporary subjects, often children, infused in the layers of her collages. Voices from the past can be found in scraps of vintage wallpapers, snippets of yesterday’s news and pieces of discarded costume jewelry, laid upon fields of primary colors and multiple textures. Holmes uses these elements to bring a fresh approach to universal subjects encompassing family, childhood, relationships, hope and faith. Ekua says, "Collage is a profound means of expression, merging my personal journey with broader narratives, as I navigated the complexities of grief, artistic discovery, and the environments that shaped my formative years. Through collage I found a way to piece together a fractured world, with a goal to transform remnants of the past into a cohesive and meaningful present." 

“Voice of Freedom, Fannie Lou Hamer: Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement,” was released in 2015 featuring illustrations by Holmes in her debut publishing project. In 2016 the book garnered a Caldecott honor, a Sibert honor, and a Boston Globe Horn Book Award. In addition Holmes won the Society of Illustrators Silver medal and the Coretta Scott King John Steptoe award for New Talent. In 2018 and 2019 “Out of Wonder: Poets Celebrating Poets,” and “Stuff of Stars” featuring Holmes’ illustrations garnered back to back Coretta Scott King Illustrator Awards. This new platform is nurtured by and contributes to her studio practice. Holmes is also the founder and lead artist of the Roxbury Sunflower Project, now in its 7th year. The project is a collective community installation which distributes free sunflower seeds as well as invites residents, organizations and businesses to plant and nurture sunflower gardens in and around Roxbury as elegant symbols of the community’s deep roots, resilience, and radiance. 

Currently Holmes directs MassArt’s sparc! the ArtMobile, pursuing a mission to “ignite art and design in the neighborhood.”

Autumn Allen writes books for children and teens, and wears many other hats in the world of children’s literature. Her debut young adult novel, All You Have to Do, earned three starred reviews, was a People Magazine must-read for fall 2023, a Kirkus Reviews Best YA Books of 2023, a Black Caucus of the ALA debut honor award winner, and was long listed for the Massachusetts Book Award. ​Her picture books, Step On Board: Sculpting a Memorial to Harriet Tubman, illustrated by Ekua Holmes, and Answered Prayers, illustrated by Charly Palmer, will be published by Knopf. Autumn is a Kweli alumna and has received fellowships from the New York Public Library, the Associates of the Boston Public Library, and the Highlights Foundation.

As a senior editor at Barefoot Books, Autumn acquires and develops picture books and board books. As an educator, she has taught literature, writing and publishing to children, teens and adults, and has served on the faculty at Kweli, the Highlights Foundation, Grub Street, and the Harvard Graduate School of Education. As a consultant, she creates educator’s guides and gives workshops on selecting and using diverse books and discussing race and social justice with young people. Autumn holds an MA-MFA in children’s literature and writing for children from Simmons University, a master’s degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where she studied cultural psychology, and a BA in literature from Yale. In her scholarship and in her practice as an author, editor, educator, and consultant, she is interested in young people’s literature as a tool of cultural transmission and as a site of cultural transformation.

The Hellerstein Literary Reading and Lecture Series was established in honor of Professor Marjorie Hellerstein (1924-2005), a longtime MassArt faculty member. The Hellerstein Series engages our community in conversation with the finest living authors, poets, and literary critics. 

Brought to you by MassArt Humanities, Creative Writing Minor, sparc! the ArtMobile, the Godine Library, Office of Institutional Advancement, Center for Art and Community Partnerships (CACP), and the President’s Office.