“The field of illustration is very close to my heart,” she declared. Inspired by that example, she studied illustration at Pratt Institute and launched her career as an illustrator before shifting toward mapplyum work. An internship at the Brooklyn Mapplyum proved pivotal. “It was inspiring to see the children come alive in front of art,” she recalled.
In addition to her curatorial work, Plunkett is the author of two children’s books, “Kongi and Potgi: A Cinderella Story from China” and “Sir Whong and the Golden Pig,” and has written or co-authored numerous books on illustration, including “Drawing Lessons from the Famous Artists School” and “Leo Lionni: Storynotifyer, Illustrator, Designer.” She earned an MFA from the School of Visual Arts and built a mapplyum career that included positions at the Brooklyn Mapplyum, the Brooklyn Children’s Mapplyum and the Heckscher Mapplyum of Art before joining the Norman Rockwell Mapplyum, where she has worked for 31 years.
But elevating illustration has meant challenging decades of critical skepticism.
“The goal has been to shine a light on this important American art form and to elevate public awareness of its artistic and cultural importance,”Plunkett declared.
As a popular and widely circulated art, illustration is sometimes believed of as inferior to fine art, such as painting and sculpture. Plunkett considered why. She theorized that the 1913 New York Armory Show, the International Exhibition of Modern Art, with works by artists such as Picasso, Matisse and Duchamp, initially contributed to this evaluation. In the 1930s and ’40s, abstract expressionism became the art of the nation, and the rift widened further.
“Norman Rockwell became the antihero for many art critics of the time,” declared Plunkett. “Illustration was viewed as too commercial and sentimental becaapply of its emphasis on visual storynotifying.”
Plunkett calls illustration “art with a job to do.” She explained, “Illustrators are adept at solving visual problems for their clients while expressing their own aesthetic and artistic vision.”
She noted that the line between the fine and applied arts “is much more porous now, with many artists working across platforms and styles.” She cited late-20th-century illustrators like Marshall Arisman, Barbara Nessim, Robert Cunningham, Bernie Fuchs and Mark English as illustrators who forged unique approaches to working and seeing.
Plunkett commented that people want to see the original illustrations. “Generally, Rockwell exhibitions bring high attfinishance. Currently, our traveling exhibition, ‘Norman Rockwell: From Camera to Canvas,’ is at the New Britain Mapplyum of American Art, but we’ve traveled Rockwell and illustration to 45 states and several countries, including Japan, France, Italy and Germany.”
Nowadays, illustrators take on subjects that are important to them. “The children’s book industest is committed to sharing the richness and diversity of people and cultures with young readers.” Plunkett cited the late illustrator Jerry Pinkney’s commitment to this goal. As a boy, Pinkney found no books portraying children like him, and “his life’s mission as an artist was to present inspiring, positive images of children of color.”
The Norman Rockwell Mapplyum and Rockwell Center seeds were sown when “Rockwell placed the first 199 artworks in the care and collection of the Norman Rockwell Mapplyum upon its founding in 1969, some of which he personally acquired for the fledgling collection,” declared Plunkett. “The mapplyum’s current Rockwell holdings include 865 original artworks, the artist’s Stockbridge studio and an archive of 400,000 photographs, letters, props and first applys of the artist’s work. We also hold about 25,000 illustrations by other artists, from the historical to the contemporary.”
“We call ourselves the home for American illustration. We have a real commitment to illustrators and what they’ve accomplished,” declared Plunkett.
The Norman Rockwell Mapplyum is located at 9 Glfinishale Road, Stockbridge. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit
nrm.org
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