Muppets bridge racial divide at center
The WEB Du Bois Center at Great Barrington is hosting the exhibit, “Bein’ Green: Why Every Color is Beautiful,” featuring the fanciful artwork of Sesame Street and Muppets illustrator Joel Schick, December through February 2012. The illustrations and paintings of beloved characters such as Kermit the Frog, Cookie Monster, Elmo, Gonzo, Miss Piggy, and many others from the Muppet menagerie, will be on display throughout the center, along with some of the finished books and toys for which the illustrations were created.
These paintings will naturally speak to children of all ages, but they also bring back wonderful memories and feelings in the adults who grew up with them. With all the racial unrest in this world, we also thought it was a good time for people to re-experience a childlike perspective. Someone green can still love someone blue, and someone turquoise can still play with someone red. The Muppets have spent years showing us that, regardless of color, we all sing and laugh and love.
What makes this collection so unusual are some of the early pencil sketches, overlays, and notes, showing the progression of a piece as Joel created it. We also have some unpublished pieces that are stunning. This exhibit is a first of its kind, giving the public the opportunity to see around 100 original Muppet drawings.
Because of Joel’s expertise in capturing the “essence” of each character, Sesame Street’s corporate office eventually asked him to create the “how-to-draw” books that Muppet sketch artists continue to follow. An award-winning illustrator of 40 years, Joel also designed numerous Kurt Vonnegut and Barry Lopez books and provided the illustrations for dozens of children’s classics, including the “Magic School Bus” and “Wayside School” series.
The WEB Du Bois Center, located at 684 Main Street, Great Barrington, is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the study of social justice. The exhibit will be open to the public Saturdays and Sundays from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m., except for holidays, or by appointment. The $5 admission benefits Berkshire County Kids’ Place, an accredited non-profit Children’s Advocacy Center, that provides services for child victims of abuse. This exhibition would not be possible without the generosity of Framed, Guido’s, Larkin Signs, Alison Lighthall, Anna Myers, Julie Milani, and the Norman Rockwell Museum.
