BRAHM showcases classic children’s book art in new exhibit - Published Feb. 4, 2025. By Abby Buckner

Gallery View. Photo courtesy of Joshua White

Before a children’s book comes to life, its illustrations begin as sketches, storyboards and creative experiments. 

The Blowing Rock Art & History Museum’s exhibition, “Storyboard to Storybook: The Beulah Campbell Collection at Appalachian State University,” offers a behind-the-scenes look at the artistic process of mid-20th-century children’s literature.

Having opened in December, the exhibit features over 30 original illustrations, collages and preparatory drawings spanning from the 1950s to the 1980s, exploring themes of identity, heritage and imagination.

The featured works are drawn from the Beulah Campbell Collection in App State’s Belk Library Special Collections. The exhibit honors the collection of Campbell, a professor emerita of elementary education at App State, who collected illustrations to enhance her teaching.

Kayla Reische, education outreach coordinator at BRAHM, said Campbell was a “really interesting character” who is remembered for her youthful spirit and dedication to children’s literature.

Campbell’s collection reflects a transformative era in children’s publishing, embracing themes of social equality and cultural diversity.

“In the 1970s she got a grant to collect all this art, and she brought in Black authors and librarians to Boone,” Reische said. “Some of these artists stayed in the area, and I think for everyone involved it was really cool.”