Bryan Collier: Nationally Celebrated Author, Artist, and Illustrator (1967 - )

Article by Dr. Clara Small, professor emerita, Salisbury University

Photo Credit: Daniel Jordan

Bryan Collier was born in January of 1967, the youngest of six children of William Collier, Sr., and the late Esther Lee Collier.  Bryan grew up in Pocomoke, Maryland, on the Eastern of Maryland, and was a product of the Somerset County School System and graduated from Washington High School in Princess Anne, Maryland. 

At an early age, Bryan developed an interest in art, and his interest grew to encompass several mediums, which included the mixture of watercolor and collage to bring stories to life. Bryan’s mother, Esther, was a Head Start teacher and she often brought home children’s books for him to read, but he was not interest-ed in the words on the pages. His interest actually was centered on the pictures and photos. However, his earliest inspiration for art came from his grandmother who preserved foods and made quilts, which 25 years later led him to use collages in his works. The seed was planted when he was quite young, observing his grandmother.  

Bryan’s journey began in 1985, when he was in high school, and he won first place in a Congressional Art Competition, and his art was put on display in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. That same year he was awarded a scholarship through a national talent competition to attend Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York. Pratt is a private college, but it is one of the leading art schools in the country. Bryan graduated from Pratt in 1989 with a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts with honors. While attending Pratt Institute, he volunteered at Harlem Horizon Studio, which was located in the Harlem Hospital Center. The Center was open to the children of the hospital as well as to the children of the community. The Harlem Horizon Studio had a program that provided space and materials for self-taught artists in the community. Bryan later became the Director of the program and remained in that position 12 years.
His interest in becoming a part of children’s books began in 1995, at a book store where he observed the books did not look, feel or sound like him. As a result, he decided to do something about it and began to write and illustrate children’s books that resembled him. He was not an immediate success, and it took seven years of knocking on many doors until he got a book deal. His big break came with the publication of his first book titled Uptown, for which he was awarded the Coretta Scott King Award and the Ezra Jack Keats Award. Uptown, was written as well as illustrated by him and was published in 2000. It is about the Harlem, New York neighborhood and the experiences of a young boy who lived there. 

Written & Illustrated by Byran Collier
Published by Henry Holt and Co.
2000

Bryan’s favorite medium seems to have been the mixing of watercolor and collages which brought stories to life and appears to have also brought him his greatest success. A listing of most of his books, collaborations with other authors, and the books he illustrated, are as follows:
*John’s Secret Dreams, by Doreen Rappaport (1991)
*These Hands, by Hope Lynne Price (1997)
*Uptown: Rise and Shine, By Brian Collier (2000)
*A Freedom River, by Doreen Rappaport (2000)
*Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., by Doreen Rappaport,
(2001)
*Visiting Langston, by Willie Perdomo (2002)
*Hey Black Child, by Useni Eugene Perkins (2003)
*What’s the Hurray, Fox? And Other Animal Stories, by Joyce Carol Thomas (2004)
*Rosa, by Nikki Giovanni, (2005)
*Welcome, Precious, by Nikki Grimes and Bryan Collier (2006)
*Twelve Rounds to Glory: The Story of Muhammad Ali, by Charles R. Smith, Jr.,
(2007)
*Cherish today: A Celebration of Life’s Moment, by Kristina Evans and Bryan
Collier (2007)
*Doo-Wop Pop, by Roni Schotter (2008)
*Lincoln and Douglass: An American Friendship, by Nikki Giovanni (2008)
*Barack Obama: Son of Promise, Child of Hope, by Nikki Grimes (2008)
*Our Children Can Soar: A Celebration of Rosa, Barack, and the Pioneers of
Change, by Michelle Cook (2009)
*Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave, by Laban Carrick Hill (2010)
*Your Moon, My Moon: A Grandmother’s Words to a Faraway Child, by Patricia
MacLachlan (2011)
*Fifty Cents and a Dream: Young Booker T. Washington, by Jabari Asim (2012)
*Knock Knock: My Dad’s Dream for Me, by Daniel Beaty (2013)
*My Country ‘Tis of Thee: How One Song Reveals the History of Civil Rights, by
Claire Murphy (2014)
*Trombone Shorty, by Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews (2015)
*City Shapes, by Diana Murray (2016)
*Lift Your Light a Little Higher: The Story of Stephen Bishop: Slave, Explorer, by
Heather Henson (2016)
*The Watcher, by Nikki Grimes (2017)
*It’s Shoe Time!, by Bryan Collier and Mo Williams (2017)
*Five O’clock Band, by Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews (2018)
*Thurgood, by Jonah Winter (2019)
*Clemente, by Willie Perdomo and Bryan Collier (2020)
*All Because You Matter, by Ami Charles (2020)
*By and By: Charles Albert Tindley, the Father of Gospel Music, by Carole Boston
Weatherford (2020)
*We Shall Overcome, by Bryan Collier (2021)
*Music Is A Rainbow, by Bryan Collier (2022)
*Maya’s Song, by Renee Watson (2022)
*Love Is Loud: How Diana Nash Led the Civil Rights Movement, by Sandra Neil
Wallace (2023)
*Ode to Grapefruit: How James Earl Jones Found His Voice, by Kari Lavelle (2024)
*Freedom on the Sea: The True Story of the Civil War Hero Robert Smalls and
His Daring Escape to Freedom, by Michael Boulware Moore (2024)
*Together, United (An All Because You Matter Book), by Tami Charles (2025)
*Black Boy, Rise, by Bryan Barnes (2025)
*Troubled Waters: A River’s Journey Toward Justice, by Carole Boston Weather-
ford, and Bryan Collier (2026), and others.

In each of the books listed above by the authors, as well as those co-authored by Bryan Collier, Bryan’s illustrations were specifically designed to emphasize the meaning and purpose of the book from the perspective of young African Americans. Bryan understood that the illustrations had a greater impact and meant more to African American youngsters than some written words. That harkens back to 1985 when he visited a store, and the words had little impact on him, but the drawings, made a big impression on him. As such, it explains his passion to create art and to present it visually as he hopes to build esteem, to teach an appreciation of art, and to keep young people away from negative influences. In order to accomplish his goal, he continues to visit schools, talk to teachers, librarians, and students about books and art. That he has done for many years, and he has no intentions of stopping anytime soon.  

For his illustration of Barack Obama: Son of Promise: Child of Hope, Bryan won an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Children’s Literacy work, on Feb-ruary 12, 2009, which was the first picture book on Barack Obama. By 2014, he had won awards for many of the books he had authored and others that he had illustrated. He won the Coretta Scott King Award for illustrations in A Freedom River and Visiting Langston books by Doreen Rappaport and William Perdomo, respectively. He also received a Caldecott Honor and Coretta Scott King Award for his work in Rosa, by the critically acclaimed poet Nikki Giovanni and Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Martin Luther King, Jr. by Doreen Rappaport. He was also the United States’ 2014 nominee for the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Award for Illustration, the most prestigious international award for children’s literature. 
Bryan Collier is a nationally known artist, but locally he has displayed his works in the Mosely Gallery at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Princess Anne, Maryland and is a regular presenter and keynote lecturer at Salisbury University, Maryland’s Eastern Shore Children’s Literature Series. The literature series is designed to encourage and inspire children to read and develop their writing skills. In addition, much of his time is also spent in creating studio pieces and visiting classrooms to talk with teachers, students, and librarians about his favorite topics of books and art. On April 10, 2014, in one of his keynote presentations at Salisbury University’s Eastern Shore Children’s and Young Adult Literature Festivals, Bryan stated that his goal was “to encourage a new generation of artists and writers, because he had no illustrators or artists who looked like him-self when he began his journey.” Encouraging other aspiring writers and artists to follow their dreams is his task at the moment, while insisting that they do the same for others when they become successful and nationally known.

By 2025, Bryan Collier had illustrated over 35 picture books, received 4 Caldecott Honors, six Coretta Scott King Awards, the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award for Picture Books, and a host of other awards. He presently lives in Marlboro, New York, with his family.