Collage artist Bryan Collier reveals life lessons from his career

"Is everybody ready?" Bryan Collier asked audience members in the Golden Eagles Room. The tables were shaped in a U, encircling Collier as he stood in the middle, smiling to a crowd of about 30 to 40 people.

Collier warmly introduced himself as a Maryland native, now living in New York, who lived with his grandmother as a boy.

"She lived 20 feet away from my family, but I chose to live with her because I just wanted to be with her," said Collier.

Living in Harlem has helped Collier's connection with making art and illustrating books that have a "transformational outlook on life." He wrote and illustrated "Uptown," one of the books for which his art received the Coretta Scott King Award.

"In art, do what makes sense to you," he said. "Figure out what you like and piece it together. When I look through a magazine for a collage, I look for something to jump out at me. I'll see a picture of chicken and think, 'Wow, that would make a great dress.'"

But his love for art did not come suddenly; at the age of 15, Collier said his interests were mainly football and basketball.

"I wanted to be 'Dr. J' [Julius Erving]-he was my inspiration," he said. "But when I took art class, something happened. I realized that sports are fine, but they can't touch me the way art can."

With a scholarship won in a national talent competition for Pratt Institute in New York City, Collier chose to pursue a career in art, rather than enlisting in the limited choices of the "Purdue Chicken Factory or the armed services." Some of his fellow classmates include fashion designer Marc Jacobs, actor Terrance Howard, and top executives now working for ABC, NBC and CBS. His grandmother's knitting has subconsciously stayed in Collier's mind, influencing his strong interest in making collages.

"When I went back home and saw my grandmother's quilts hanging on my family members' walls, I made the connection of my collages now with something that happened 25 years earlier," said Collier, his eyes perhaps looking beyond the audience to his memories. "What she gave to me was a silent gift; this gift is a seed, and when you plant the seed it becomes a tree-that tree is you."

One transformational moment Collier remembers was when he received an email about "Uptown" from a child in Guam.

"[The child] read it, and he got it," he said. "The seed of my grandmother making quilts made a journey to a kid on the other side of the world. We get handed silent gifts that will define who we are, but we go through life and don't pay attention to these things."

"Uptown," the only book Collier has ever written, took seven years to complete.

"I carry my portfolio around to show that it's been traveling and beat-up in airport luggage, reminding me that nothing's ever easy," said Collier, holding the duck-taped and worn out case.

Then, he asked the audience members if they had been read to recently. A few scattered no»s and laughter were enough for Collier to open "Uptown" and read it aloud from memorization. It was a quick story, but the words painted just as vivid a scene as the illustrations. He pointed out the word "butterfly," which was key to discovering how Uptown Harlem really was like a "caterpillar," as stated by the boy in the beginning of the story. After he finished, the audience applauded as Collier explained who the boy on the cover was.

Collier's nephew, Justin, posed for the cover when he was eight years old. He is now 23 and will attend graduate school, a success that filled Collier with joy.

"Justin took his book to elementary and high school to impress the girls, and he took it with him to college to impress the girls," said Collier. "But the day he reads it to his own son will be an amazing day. Once again, this will be another silent gift in the world."

Emphasizing his belief of silent gifts, Collier said that he felt a "letdown" when he saw his book on the shelves at Barnes & Noble. He was wrong in thinking that it was about having an ego trip in finally being an author, and knew it was something bigger.

It was not until he was approached by Mexican immigrant students at a bilingual school one day that he figured out the meaning of his work.

"These eight year old kids stood outside the school, walked up to me and said, 'We've been waiting for you all our lives'," said Collier. "The journey of those books was my purpose in the world. There are kids in Guam behind bars and in ditches waiting for you to dream, so that they can dream their dream; we're so connected."

Soon, the floor was open for questions, and a couple of people were interested in how exactly he made the collages.

"I collect and use old magazines that I buy on the streets," said Collier. "First, I pencil sketch [the image], cut out the magazine pieces I want, put them together, and then paint them with water color. If I don't like a piece, I just cut it out and glue on a new one. A collage usually takes me about four to six months to make."

He also mentioned how illustrating for "Rosa," by Nikki Giovanni, was inspiring after talking about the Rosa Parks bus incident to Parks' longtime friend.

"You have to taste and see history, you won't get it on a platter," he said.

Another person asked Collier what he does when he gets "artist's block," and Collier suggested walking away from the piece to a quiet place for clarity, and then going back to it.

Collier's last words of advice were simple, but profound.

"Money won't save you," he said. "I was offered to do an explicit piece in Hustler for $75,000, but I knew children's books and Hustler would bump heads.  I didn't want to get caught up in the money-making thing."

He then asked the audience the question, "Who's got dreams?"

Some people raised their hands and answered, and although each one was different than the next, Collier's message was clear: whatever you dream, it will be transformational. You will attain what you want, but there will be doors opened that you did not know existed, leading you to your higher purpose in life.