Art in the Capitol

The Ashley Bryan virtual exhibition was organized by the Maine Arts Commission in cooperation with the Ashley Bryan Center.

Born in 1923, Ashley Bryan grew up in the Bronx during the Depression. His parents emigrated from Antigua in the Caribbean and settled in New York after the First World War. Bryan began making books at the age of six and never stopped. Trips to the public library, where he sought out folktales, fairy tales, novels, biographies and poetry, fueled his passion for storytelling. There were, however, few opportunities to identify with African Americans: “At that time I knew very little about books by or about Black people.”

Drawing helped Bryan maintain his humanity, even when he was drafted from art school into a segregated unit of the U.S. Army during World War II, where he served in the D-Day invasion and beyond. Bryan later studied philosophy at Columbia University, received a Fulbright scholarship to study in Germany and taught art in high schools and universities. In the summer of 1946, while at Maine’s Skowhegan School of Art, he visited Acadia National Park and saw the Cranberry Isles. He called this island community home for the next 70 years.

As a celebrated teacher, author and artist, Bryan was committed to filling the void of Black representation by creating children’s books about African and African American experiences.

Bryan’s art is as varied as his stories. His accomplished draftsmanship is evident in paintings ranging from family portraits to still lifes and celebrations of the natural world. These works offer vibrant expressions of linear movement and energy. He also created colorful paintings from block prints that share a similar visual intensity. Bryan made puppets from found objects and returned to one of the earliest forms of visual narrative through stained-glass windows fashioned from sea glass and papier-mâché. He gathered the materials for these creations from the island.

Learn more about Ashley Bryan on the Ashley Bryan Center website.

Artwork availability: The artworks in this exhibition are not available for purchase.

A Journey of Infinite Hope, Faith, Art—and Prejudice

In his memoir, Little Cranberry Island artist Ashley Bryan depicts the lives of Black soldiers during World War II.

By Carl Little

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II. As Lauren Katzenberg noted in the New York Times “At War” newsletter last August, “There will be many commemorations: the liberation of the concentration camps, Victory in Europe Day, the dropping of the atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Victory Over Japan Day and more.”

Katzenberg asked for ideas for World War II stories to cover during the year. My suggestion was the crucial but largely unsung role of African Americans in the effort to defeat fascism in Europe. The inspiration for this recommendation was Ashley Bryan’s autobiography, Infinite Hope: A Black Artist’s Journey from World War II to Peace, published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers in 2019.

The award-winning artist, storyteller and writer, who turned 96 in July and made his home on Little Cranberry Island, provides a first-hand account of his experiences as a stevedore, or longshoreman, in the all-Black 502nd Port Battalion. Bryan shaped the story around letters he wrote and drawings he made during his three years in the service. Read the full article