“Untitled (Woman with Hoe),” Jerry Pinkney, 2004. Illustration for Selma to Montgomery National Heritage Trail, National Park Service, Alabama. ©Jerry Pinkney Studios. All rights reserved.

Norman Rockwell Museum’s “Witnessing History” performance series continues with “Ain’t I A Woman: The Story of Sojourner Truth,” to be presented Saturday, February 26, starting at 5 p.m. Actress Debra Zuill will portray the inspirational civil rights leader, evangelist, and abolitionist from the 1800s in a one-woman performance that brings history to bear on issues of racial prejudice and women’s rights. The “Witnessing History” performances are being held in conjunction with the Museum’s new exhibition “Witness: The Art of Jerry Pinkney,” on view through May 30. Admission to the performance costs $10, $6 for Museum members and children 18 and under.

Upcoming “Witnessing History” Performance

On God’s Green Earth a Free Woman: The Story of Elizabeth Freeman
Saturday, March 26, 5 p.m.

Witness: The Art of Jerry Pinkney
On view through May 30, 2011

Experience the art of Jerry Pinkney, a master of the American picture book whose powerful, heart-warming stories reflect personal and cultural themes, and explore the African-American experience in words and pictures. This exhibition, celebrating an artistic journey that has continued for 50 years, offers memorable perspectives on life’s small but extraordinary moments, and on significant historical events that are brought into focus through his art. The power of classic literature and the meaning of visual storytelling in our lives is made clear in the work of this legendary illustrator who “chose legacy” by “becoming the voice that others may not have had.”

Jerry Pinkney’s luminous watercolor paintings, richly detailed drawings, and studies for “The Old African,” “John Henry,” “Black Cowboys/Wild Horses,” “Uncle Remus: The Complete Tales,” “The Lion & The Mouse,” ”The Sweethearts of Rhythm,” “The Little Match Girl” and other books, and for such historical commissions as the African Burial Ground Interpretive Center, National Parks Service, and the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center will be on view.

A popular and critically acclaimed artist, Jerry Pinkney was recently presented with the prestigious Caldecott Medal, awarded to the illustrator of the most distinguished American picture book for children that year. The recipient of five Caldecott Honor Medals, five Coretta Scott King Awards, four Coretta Scott King Honor Awards, and a life time achievement award from the Society of Illustrators in New York, the artist has also served on the Board of the National Endowment for the Arts, and on the National Postal Service’s Citizen Stamp Advisory Council. Learn more at the artist’s website: http://www.jerrypinkneystudio.com