THE MAURICE SENDAK FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES THE 2025 SENDAK FELLOWS
Ridgefield, CT (March 5, 2025) – The Maurice Sendak Foundation has named four illustrators as 2025 Sendak Fellows: Junjun Chen, Marianna Coppo, Rob Dunlavey, and Gracey Zhang.
The Sendak Fellowship, an artist residency and mentoring program, was founded in 2009 by renowned artist and children’s book illustrator Maurice Sendak, his long-time assistant and executive director of The Maurice Sendak Foundation, Lynn Caponera, and photographer, community activist, and Foundation board member Dona Ann McAdams. During the four-week program, the Fellows engage in a project of their choosing in the relative isolation of a rural setting. At the same time, they receive inspiration from each other, from visiting artists and professionals in the field, while working in studios at Sendak’s Ridgefield property with access to Sendak’s house and archives.
Maurice Sendak wanted to create a formal program for what he had been doing informally his whole career: helping promising illustrators. In Sendak’s words, the goal of the Fellowship is for the Fellows to “create work that is not vapid, stupid, or sexy, but original. Work that excites and incites. Illustration is like dance; it should move like—and to—music.”
“We're so pleased to return the fellowship to Maurice's home and archive in Ridgefield,” says Lynn Caponera. “He loved sharing his work and the work of other artists that inspired him. We continue this with the fellowship. Although Maurice is no longer with us, the fellows always come away feeling as though Maurice is here guiding them in what he feels makes a great picture book. Maurice would be delighted to have us welcome these four fellows into his world.”
The 2025 Sendak Fellows:
Junjun Chen is from China and currently lives in New York. She graduated from the School of Visual Arts with an MFA in Illustration as Visual Essay in 2023. She received a 2024 Award of Excellence for illustration from Communication Arts. Before moving to New York, she worked in China's financial industry. She was inspired to change careers, study art, and work as a visual designer, where she discovered her love and passion for illustration.
Marianna Coppo was born and lives in Rome, where she writes and illustrates picture books with the help of her cats. She is the creator of over a dozen books including Petra, translated into 14 languages and a Kirkus Best Picture Book of 2018 and nominee for the Kate Greenaway Medal; A Very Late Story, translated into 15 languages; Thingamabob, winner of the 34th Chen Bochui International Children's Literature Award; Fish and Crab, an Indigo Best Children’s Book of 2023; and The Book That Can Read Your Mind, an Amazon, Indigo, and Barnes & Noble Best Book of 2024.
https://mariannacoppo.cargo.site
Rob Dunlavey is the illustrator of In the Woods by David Elliott, Owl Sees Owl by Laura Godwin, a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, Whale Fall by Melissa Stewart, a Bank Street Best Book of the Year, and more. His editorial illustrations have been featured in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, Business Week, and The Los Angeles Times. Rob studied fine art and has an MFA in sculpture. He lives in Natick, Massachusetts.
Gracey Zhang is an award-winning illustrator, author, and animator with a BFA in Illustration from the Rhode Island School of Design. Her books include Lala’s Words, winner of the 2022 Ezra Jack Keats Illustrator Award, When Rubin Plays, Nigel and the Moon by Antwan Eady, Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal Best Books of the Year, and Noodles on a Bicycle by Kyo Maclear, for which she received a 2025 Caldecott Honor. Her clients include The New York Times, NBC, and NPR. Born and raised in Vancouver, Canada, Gracey is now based in New York.
https://www.graceyzhang.com/books
About The Maurice Sendak Foundation and The Sendak Fellowship
The Maurice Sendak Foundation is a 501(3)(c) nonprofit organization that promotes the artistic legacy of Maurice Sendak by ensuring his books are widely available in ideal editions, by preserving his home and studio, and by exhibiting his original art. It supports illustrators and writers in children’s literature, especially supporting excellence in the art of the picture book. The Sendak Fellowship, a core program of the Foundation, is a residency that encourages, teaches, and supports artists who tell stories with illustration. Fellows are selected each year through nominating and judging committees. Past fellows include Harry Bliss, Cozbi A. Cabrera, Terry and Eric Fan, Yuyi Morales, Sergio Ruzzier, Doug Salati, and Sara Varon.
https://www.sendakfoundation.org/sendak-fellowship
https://www.sendakfoundation.org/
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