Events

The Kalamazoo Book Arts Center is excited to present an exhibition by the illustrator and author David Small, featuring the original drawings for his graphic novels Stitches and Home After Dark. These powerful novels told in engaging graphic images explore themes of adolescence, emotional neglect, male toxicity, misguided medical treatments, and the dark underbelly of mid-20th century American life.

Small was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan. He attended Wayne State University, then Yale, majoring in Art. For several years he taught Art at the college level, including Kalamazoo College, before becoming a full-time illustrator. To date he has written 7 and illustrated over 50 picture books plus two graphic novels. His work has received most of the top awards accorded to book illustration, including the 2001 Caldecott Medal, two Caldecott Honors, two Christopher Medals, and a Gold Medal from the Society of Illustrators. His graphic memoir Stitches was a National Book Award Finalist and has been translated into 9 languages. Both Stitches and his graphic novel Home After Dark were given the Alex Award, granted each year by the American Library Association to the best new adult books suitable also for young adult readers.  

David and his wife, the writer Sarah Stewart live in an historic 1833 house on the banks of the St. Joseph River, 35 miles south of Kalamazoo. 

This exhibition is part of a larger series of events, to celebrate the recent acquisition of the complete archives of David Small and Sarah Stewart by the Western Michigan University Libraries. This includes exhibitions at the Richmond Center for Visual Arts, Waldo Library, the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, and the Kalamazoo Public Library. For more information visit: It’s a David Small World: A Journey Through Life and Art.