**Press Release from HMA:
Folk artist Minnie Adkins and writer Mike Norris will make a special presentation about their four children’s books on Saturday, Aug. 12, 2023, at 1 p.m. during Saturday KidsArt at the Huntington Museum of Art. This free event will take place in HMA’s Grace Rardin Doherty Auditorium.
Eastern Kentucky natives Adkins and Norris plan to sign copies of their books in HMA’s Virginia Van Zandt Great Hall following the presentation in the auditorium. Books are available for purchase in HMA’s Museum Store. The titles of the four children’s books are Sonny the Monkey, Bright Blue Rooster, Mommy Goose: Rhymes from the Mountains, and Ring Around the Moon: Mommy Goose Rhymes.
This special Saturday KidsArt event takes place in conjunction with the Minnie Adkins: Story Carvings exhibit, which highlights hundreds of small wood carvings created by renowned folk artist Adkins to illustrate four children’s books written by Mike Norris. This exhibit is on view at HMA now through Nov. 5, 2023. Saturday KidsArt is free each week thanks to the generous sponsorship of Hoops Family Children’s Hospital.
Carving since she was a child, Adkins is one of America’s best-known folk artists. Among many honors, she has won the Folk Art Society of America Distinguished Artist Award, the Governor’s Award for the Arts, the Appalachian Treasure Award, and a South Arts Master Artist Fellowship. Her work is part of many permanent collections, including those of the Smithsonian Institution, the National Gallery of Art, the Huntington Museum of Art, and the Kentucky Folk Art Center.
In addition to his writing, Norris has recorded one album with the Raggedy Robin String Band and later recorded four albums of original music with the Americana group Billyblues. Along with Adkins, Norris has published four children’s books. Norris received the 2022 Literary Award from Kentucky organization Arts Connect for poems and stories “that can be read again and again to reveal new levels of meaning and literary artistry.”
This exhibit is presented with support from the City of Huntington Mayor’s Council for the Arts.
This exhibit is presented with support from The Isabelle Gwynn and Robert Daine Exhibition Endowment.
This program is presented with financial assistance from the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture & History, and the National Endowment for the Arts, with approval from the West Virginia Commission on the Arts.
For more information on exhibits or events at the Huntington Museum of Art, visit hmoa.org or call (304) 529-2701. HMA is fully accessible.