The mission of ButlerArtGallery.com is to make available art works, books, prints, photographs, and posters created and produced by Jerry Butler, guest artists, and friends. It is our mission to examine works of art, works of literature, and the meaningful reflections of others, and simultaneously to share our insights and questions with our patrons. A crucial part of our mission is to support up and coming artists as we develop the patronage of, and a collection portfolio strategy for, our clients.
"To reach a goal is to arrive at a place for starting anew – to dream again."
Jerry Butler – artist, author, and educator – savors each day as a unique opportunity for advancement in both personal and professional ways. Achieving goals, dreaming dreams, and cultivating a passion for the arts has been the hallmark of Butler’s life. Even from his earliest years as a child and as an adolescent in rural Mississippi, Butler found ways to express himself through art. He laughingly recalls that his “canvas” was sometimes a patch of earth; his “inspiration” life around him, and his “drive” a great desire to learn.
Butler received the Elizabeth Burr Award from the Wisconsin Library Association for Distinguished Achievement in Children’s Literature for A Drawing in the Sand, which he authored, illustrated, and designed. In addition, he has published more than seven educational posters, and the United States Postal Service in the introduction of the Patricia Roberts Harris stamp has used his work. To his credit are four other published books that feature his illustrations and designs. Butler’s positive school experience has fostered in him a continuing love of education that he shares with his students. He has recently designed art courses for Internet delivery to universities and public schools. Also, Butler is designing public art works that exhibit his own style in glass and other mediums. Butler holds numerous advisory positions in local, state, and national associations connected with support of the arts.
Jerry Butler holds a B.S. Degree in Art Education from Jackson State University, Jackson, Mississippi, and an MFA Degree in Painting and Design from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He also has a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction with emphasis in Design from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Currently, he is working on an MALA in Landscape Architecture at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he is putting the final touches on ideas and practices in public art.
Other relevant experiences include service on the editorial board for Leadership Magazine published by the International Chairs and Deans Academy. Jerry Butler has just concluded his terms as a member of the board of The Wisconsin Alliance for Arts Education, where he worked to establish standards in the arts and to include the arts as a core in the state curriculum. He also worked with the Smithsonian to develop Every Tone a Testimony: An African American Aural History. When asked, he worked with the United States Postal Service to create its diversity poster featuring Patricia Roberts Harris. The state of Wisconsin hired Jerry Butler to create capital restoration project curriculum and CD for fourth graders. Over the past eight years, his work has included the books A Drawing in the Sand, Sweet Words So Brave, Black Body Parts, Permission to Paint Please and Freedom Train North.
Jerry Butler in the news:
The Capital TimesHungry Mind Review
Isthmus
Sweet Words So Brave
Umoja
Wisconsin Academy Review
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