Exhibition will run from May 31 – September 2, 2018
This exhibition features ten original gouache paintings by Ruth Sanderson along with sketches and a storyboard for the book Four Fur Feet. Sanderson has illustrated over eighty books for children, and her fairytales have received much critical acclaim. She co-directs the MFA in writing and illustrating for children at Hollins University.
In fall 2017, the educational book Four Fur Feet was developed through the Early Literacy Project at Hollins University. Co-directors Anna Baynum, Ed.D. and Tiffany Pempek, PhD., and Roanoke nonprofit Turn the Page selected an unpublished manuscript from the Hollins University Archives written by Margaret Wise Brown, a Hollins alumna best known for her books Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny.
The Early Literacy Project resources provide caregivers with easily accessible, evidence-based information to promote early language and literacy development. An IMPACT Grant and a Faculty Research Grant, both from Hollins University, made this book possible. In partnership with Hollins, Turn the Page gave Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital 5,000 free copies of Four Fur Feet to be distributed to every mom who delivers a baby, hoping to increase awareness of the importance of reading to children from birth to age three.
Four Fur Feet: A Hollins Collaborative Early Literacy Project is on display in the Main Gallery of the Eleanor D. Wilson Museum at Hollins University from Thursday, May 31, 2018, through Sunday, September 2, 2018. An opening reception and book signing will be held on Friday, June 22, at 7:30 pm in VAC 119 and the VAC 1st floor lobby. The Eleanor D. Wilson Museum at Hollins University is an ADA accessible facility. Admission to the museum is always free and open to the public.