Charly Palmer

Charly Palmer is a world-renowned fine artist and illustrator, and the Coretta Scott King–John Steptoe New Talent Award winner for Mama Africa! He is also the co-author of the Boston Globe–Horn Special Citation and NAACP Image Award–winning The New Brownies’ Book, and the author-illustrator of The Legend of Gravity, which received the Texas Bluebonnet Award. 

He studied art and design at the American Academy of Art and fine art at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Across both his fine art and illustration work, Charly focuses on documenting creative expression and the Black experience. Guided by the legacy of his ancestors, he creates work that magnifies the truth and depth of Blackness. 

Notable achievements include designing the Black Heritage Stamp honoring Judge Constance Baker Motley, creating the album cover for John Legend’s Bigger Love, designing the cover of the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Edition 2K22 video game, and illustrating the cover for TIME Magazine’s America Must Change.