Danville: Exhibit on kids’ books to feature area authors

DANVILLE — Children’s books will come to life at Village Theatre Art Gallery with an upcoming family-friendly exhibit, “The Storybook Makers,” running May 1 through June 13.

More than 30 artists from the Bay Area (and beyond) will be featured in the exhibit. Among them will be Niki McLure, a self-published artist and illustrator from Olympia, Wash., who creates extraordinary artwork with an X-ACTO knife, cutting out her images from a single sheet of paper. Several of her works will be displayed at this event. Families visiting this exhibit will enjoy firsthand the amazing gifts of many artists.

“Books are not eggs that are hatched,” McClure said. “They’re handcrafted by artists.”

McClure said this is a great exhibit for children. It will include a wide range of unique computer-generated works as well as those done by hand.

“Seeing the materials and the methods used to create books, children can see themselves making books, too,” said McClure, who is one of the more prominent visual artists involved with Olympia-based record label K and Kill Rock Stars. She produces her own posters, books, cards, T-shirts, a yearly calendar and also designs covers for records and books.

The gallery will host an opening reception, with refreshments, from 5 to 8 p.m. May 1 that will feature shorts created by top talented artists, including 12 animated films from Pixar animators Shaun Kim, Erik Oh, Michael Wu and Sung Yeon Joh.

Also, a special screening of “The Gruffalo,” produced by Magic Light Pictures, based on the best-selling book by illustrator Axel Scheffler and author Julia Donaldson, will also be shown.

Danville’s Michael Barnard, owner of Rakestraw Books, will moderate a panel of local illustrators, including Constance Anderson, Jim Averbeck, April Chu and Mira Reisberg, at an Art Chat at the Village Theatre Art Gallery on May 14 from 7 to 9 p.m. Topics will cover “Why Picture Books Matter” and the path to publishing a children’s book.