Exhibition—Drawn Inside the Margins: The Diverse World of Ezra Jack Keats

The MAX celebrates Ezra Jack Keats and the diverse characters he brought to life in its newest exhibition Drawn inside the Margins: The Diverse World of Ezra Jack Keats. The exhibition features 30 original illustrations from books such as The Snowy Day, Goggles!, Louie, and My Lost Dog, along with photographs and other related ephemera. A children’s book author and illustrator, Keats illustrated over 80 children’s books, 22 of which he authored. The son of Polish Jewish immigrants, Keats was raised in Brooklyn, New York during the Great Depression and came of age in America during World War II. He experienced poverty and racism and could relate to other ethnicities who faced the same. His books were set in the inner city and featured ethnically and economically diverse characters. The artwork is on loan from The de Grummond Children’s Literature Collection at the University of Southern Mississippi Libraries.