Robyn Phillips-Pendleton is a visual storyteller, designer, educator, curator, lecturer and a United States Air Force artist. Her creative spirit is driven by the human experience and social condition. She creates illustrations, drawings and paintings that deconstruct the human state of mind, race, identity, history and cultural issues in society. She is fascinated by the many possibilities of visually translating emotional and aesthetic responses into the imagery used to narratively tell stories. The visual language emerges in the historical transmission of images and the functions of images and symbols in constructing individual and cultural identities that inform her compositional approach.
Professor Phillips-Pendleton exhibits work in national and international exhibitions, and she has lectured at various museums, colleges, universities and illustration industry conferences. She is a New York Society of Illustrators board member, a Norman Rockwell Museum National Advisory Board member and was a juror for the contemporary component for Enduring Ideals: Rockwell, Roosevelt & the Four Freedoms.
Homework for Breakfast is her most recent illustrated picture book. Her essay “Race, Perception, and Responsibility in Illustration," appears in A Companion to Illustration (edited by Alan Male, Wiley Blackwell, Inc. 2019). In addition, she co-curated the exhibition “Imprinted: Illustrating Race" at the Norman Rockwell Museum.
She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communication Arts from Virginia Commonwealth University, in Richmond, VA, and a Master of Fine Arts in Illustration from Syracuse University, in Syracuse, NY. She resides in Newark, DE, with her husband and son.
Commissioned Work
2021 Homework for Breakfast, children's book written by the Twin Poets, brothers Al Mills and Nnamdi Chukwuocha. Mariposa Ranch Press, Jackson Hole, WY
International Exhibitions
2022 Juried, “American Illustration Annual 41," Over 7,000 submissions, 443 selected.
2022 Juried, “ICON11 Exhibition," Scott Bakal, ICON11 Exhibitions Chair, Studio Inc. Gallery, Kansas City, MO
2022 Juried, “TL;DR Zine Archive & Exhibition," Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, Washington University in St. Louis, MO
2022 Invited, “Seeking Vision," Virtual Exhibition at the Design Principles and Practices Conference 2022, Newcastle University, Australia https://lnkd.in/gd8Q8Aj8
National Group Exhibitions
2022 Curated, Hollis King, gallery curator, “Black Genius: We rise Still," Skylight Gallery at Restoration Plaza. Brooklyn, NY
Curation
2022 “Imprinted: Illustrating Race," Norman Rockwell Museum, Stockbridge, MA
2021 “34th McNeese National Works on Paper Exhibition," Lake Charles, LA
Published Writing
2022 Curator's Introduction, “Race and Perception in Illustration," Imprinted: Illustrating Race Exhibition Catalog, The Norman Rockwell Museum, pp. 14 - 33
2019 Chapter 24, “Race, Perception, and Responsibility in Illustration," in A Companion to Illustration, Alan Male, Editor, Wiley Blackwell Publishing, USA
http://bit.ly/2IEVZhY
Conference Papers
2022 “Illustration, Adaptation, and Trans Mediations of the Uncle Tom's Cabin Narrative," 12th Illustration Research Symposium 2022, Falmouth University, Falmouth, UK
2022 “Race and the Education of Future Illustrators," ICON11 Educators Symposium, Kansas City, MO
2021 “The Discussion of Race in the Education of Future Illustrators," 11th Illustration Research Symposium 2021, Kingston University, London, UK https://www.illustrationresearch.org/
Invited Presentations, Podcasts
2022 The Illustration Department Podcast, guest of host Giuseppe Castellano
https://illustrationdept.com/podcast/giuseppe-castellano-talks-to-robyn-phillips-pendleton-part-1?fbclid=IwAR3HJh7PTK2iPgPgf-3_rsRsFB_2_SjjpqZ9PdWGTOHA2OQdX3_5wBKqlPA
Guest Critic
2021 Graduate Critic, Maryland College of Art, MFA in Illustration Practice
2021 Illustration Critic, Pratt Institute, Illustration Program, Professor Rudy Gutierrez
Press Articles
2022 Berkshire Eagle Art Review, “REVIEW: Representation matters: Race and perception are center stage in 'Imprinted: Illustrating Race' at the Norman Rockwell Museum"
https://www.berkshireeagle.com/arts_and_culture/arts-theater/imprinted-norman-rockwell-museum/article_d594cef4-f7cd-11ec-891e-a7bef40432ad.html?fbclid=IwAR18cpIgfkAXInMG8OGh-LWxY-5Qx7CpADkjvuoQv-ASlWKR6WzLvk1wmgI
2022 Boston Globe, “Eyes of the Artists Examine Race, Then and Now"
https://edition.pagesuite.com/popovers/dynamic_article_popover.aspx?artguid=386d37fe-80f3-416a-9141-b3bae3afd35a&fbclid=IwAR0fGElYR_2D7ryI3w0VpJJIvqgoRd2El5Gg5H3tdJ3g55P-hDYh-UPmCQ0
Memberships and Boards
Present – 2020
Society of Illustrators Board of Directors
2021 - 2009
Air Force Art Program
