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I See You, I See Myself, written for young adult readers, examines the early experiences and choices that led Jacob Lawrence to become an artist. In bold colors and precise language, the book describes how the break up of his parents, a period of foster care, reunification with his mother, brother, and sister in Harlem, and the influence of other adults in his community shaped the decisions Lawren... More

I See You, I See Myself, written for young adult readers, examines the early experiences and choices that led Jacob Lawrence to become an artist. In bold colors and precise language, the book describes how the break up of his parents, a period of foster care, reunification with his mother, brother, and sister in Harlem, and the influence of other adults in his community shaped the decisions Lawrence made about his art and his life. The hurdles that he faced - moving, parent separation, and discrimination - are ones that challenge many children today. I See You, I See Myself describes how the choices one makes in dealing with these challenges start to shape a person's life. It includes 65 color illustrations of Lawrence's work, accompanied by photographs documenting his early experiences in the Harlem community. Jacob Lawrence was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in 1917. Moving from there to Easton, Pennsylvania, and finally to Harlem in 1930, his family was part of the Great Migration of African Americans who relocated to the North from the South. Raised among the "New Negroes" - the emerging African American writers, artists, and poets who were a manifestation of the Harlem Renaissance - Lawrence was one of the first artists trained in and by the African American community in Harlem. At Utopia Children's House, a community daycare center, Lawrence received his earliest art instruction from Charles Alston, then a graduate student at Columbia University Teachers College. Lawrence continued to study with Alston throughout the 1930s at the WPA Harlem Art Workshop and at Alston's studio. He encountered notable artists, writers, and activists, such as Langston Hughes, Ralph Ellison, William Aaron Douglas, Orson Wells, Alain Locke, Addison Bates, and Augusta Savage, who had a profound effect on his development as an artist.

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