Former and current Dalton administrators, teachers, parents, and students gathered to celebrate the art, poetry, music, and life of Ashley Bryan on February 3rd. This school wide event took place on a snowy and cold day, but inside the library, we had warmth and brilliance: from the genius of Ashley Bryan. Ashley taught art at First Program in the 60s and 70s. He has enjoyed a long and wonderful career a much celebrated children’s book artist.
At this special occasion, the Dalton High School singing group Alabanza brought us the joyous sounds of three spirituals from Ashley’s gorgeously illustrated volume of Let It Shine. Ms Edinger’s 4th grade class read aloud his Beautiful Blackbird in a podcast (later made into a short iMovie for the event). And everyone was marveling at the tome of Biography that 3rd graders made for Ashley in 1993.
Ashley shared with us details of his life, as a child, as an artist, and as a humanitarian. His newest book, an autobiography, Words to My Life’s Song, has just been published. We encourage everyone to enjoy the book!
