Joanne Fitzgerald Illustrator in Residence, Chelsea O’Byrne
IBBY Canada’s Joanne Fitzgerald Illustrator in Residence in October 2024 was Chelsea O’Byrne from Vancouver. Chelsea works with watercolour, chalk pastel, gouache, and other media, and has been published by Greystone Kids, HarperCollins Publishers, Penguin Random House Canada, and Groundwood Books. Books illustrated by Chelsea include Two Homes, One Heart by Jessica Young, Hans Christian Andersen Lives Next Door by Cary Fagan, and Bibi’s Got Game by Bianca Andreescu with Mary Beth Leatherdale.
Each Illustrator in Residence’s month of work includes hands-on art workshops for elementary school classes, presentations to high school and college art students, evening sessions on illustration careers, and individual portfolio reviews. After pandemic-driven changes, all the program elements have worked very well online, and there is an in-person art workshops option for teachers to bring their students to Toronto Public Library (TPL).
Chelsea is currently working on a Master’s degree at Emily Carr University. With her packed graduate school schedule, reading week was the only time Chelsea could be in Toronto. We scheduled all the in-person class visits for that week—which was Chelsea’s first time in Toronto (she loved Toronto!).
The elementary school workshops Chelsea presented online from Vancouver started at the usual 10:00 am ET (7:00 am in Vancouver!). Although we did offer Chelsea a later start, she preferred the early start, as it allowed more time for course work.
For the month-long display of her artwork in the library’s art gallery, Chelsea shipped unframed art from Vancouver to Toronto. In a lovely example of children’s book creators supporting each other, 2023 Illustrator in Residence Carey Sookocheff loaned us a dozen IKEA frames, and CANSCAIP’s Illustrator Rep Michele Nidenoff put Chelsea’s art in the frames.
A highlight of Chelsea’s residency was an enormous children’s art activity held in person at the library. Three classes from a nearby school all walked to the library together. Four teachers, a dozen parent volunteers, and 92 kids filled all the chairs and tables in the library’s auditorium. All the kids joyfully created art, and the intense volume of their excited young voices created the most marvelous mayhem—I wish you could have been there!
We love our partnership with Toronto Public Library. TPL’s marketing is terrific—we’re in their e-newsletter, on printed flyers and digital display boards, and TPL’s website has links to the illustrator’s books along with their headshot and bio. In addition, TPL hosts the evening career sessions on their CrowdCast platform, and their branch staff support the in-person school visits.
The program honours illustrator and author Joanne Fitzgerald (1956–2011). Joanne’s husband Robert Young and their daughter Laura Young support the program in so many ways, including paying the Illustrator in Residence for their month of work, covering travel and accommodation for those coming from outside Ontario, and providing some of Joanne’s original artwork for the gallery display.
The Joanne Fitzgerald Illustrator in Residence program launched in 2013 with Martha Newbigging, followed by Patricia Storms (2014), John Martz (2015), Dianna Bonder (2016), Ashley Barron (2017), Nahid Kazemi (2018), Diego Herrera/Yayo (2019), Soyeon Kim (2021), Sandra Dumais (2022), Carey Sookocheff (2023), and Chelsea O’Byrne (2024).
Can’t wait until next year!
Marketing image created by illustrator in residence, Chelsea O’Byrne
Joanne Fitzgerald Illustrator in Residence, Chelsea O’Byrne
Each Illustrator in Residence’s month of work includes hands-on art workshops for elementary school classes, presentations to high school and college art students, evening sessions on illustration careers, and individual portfolio reviews. After pandemic-driven changes, all the program elements have worked very well online, and there is an in-person art workshops option for teachers to bring their students to Toronto Public Library (TPL).
Chelsea is currently working on a Master’s degree at Emily Carr University. With her packed graduate school schedule, reading week was the only time Chelsea could be in Toronto. We scheduled all the in-person class visits for that week—which was Chelsea’s first time in Toronto (she loved Toronto!).
The elementary school workshops Chelsea presented online from Vancouver started at the usual 10:00 am ET (7:00 am in Vancouver!). Although we did offer Chelsea a later start, she preferred the early start, as it allowed more time for course work.
For the month-long display of her artwork in the library’s art gallery, Chelsea shipped unframed art from Vancouver to Toronto. In a lovely example of children’s book creators supporting each other, 2023 Illustrator in Residence Carey Sookocheff loaned us a dozen IKEA frames, and CANSCAIP’s Illustrator Rep Michele Nidenoff put Chelsea’s art in the frames.
A highlight of Chelsea’s residency was an enormous children’s art activity held in person at the library. Three classes from a nearby school all walked to the library together. Four teachers, a dozen parent volunteers, and 92 kids filled all the chairs and tables in the library’s auditorium. All the kids joyfully created art, and the intense volume of their excited young voices created the most marvelous mayhem—I wish you could have been there!
We love our partnership with Toronto Public Library. TPL’s marketing is terrific—we’re in their e-newsletter, on printed flyers and digital display boards, and TPL’s website has links to the illustrator’s books along with their headshot and bio. In addition, TPL hosts the evening career sessions on their CrowdCast platform, and their branch staff support the in-person school visits.
The program honours illustrator and author Joanne Fitzgerald (1956–2011). Joanne’s husband Robert Young and their daughter Laura Young support the program in so many ways, including paying the Illustrator in Residence for their month of work, covering travel and accommodation for those coming from outside Ontario, and providing some of Joanne’s original artwork for the gallery display.
The Joanne Fitzgerald Illustrator in Residence program launched in 2013 with Martha Newbigging, followed by Patricia Storms (2014), John Martz (2015), Dianna Bonder (2016), Ashley Barron (2017), Nahid Kazemi (2018), Diego Herrera/Yayo (2019), Soyeon Kim (2021), Sandra Dumais (2022), Carey Sookocheff (2023), and Chelsea O’Byrne (2024).
Can’t wait until next year!
Submitted by Helena Aalto
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