Illustrations from Taylor Art Professor Jonathan Bouw Selected for the Society of Illustrators Annual Exhibition

Upland, Indiana—Illustrations created by Taylor Professor of Art Prof. Jonathan Bouw have been selected for inclusion in the Society of Illustrators Annual Juried Exhibition. Bouw’s work, images from his book Lantaka, were selected for the exhibition and book to be published by the Society of Illustrators. 

In Lantaka, Bouw tells the story of a child living in the Philippines. Bouw said the inspiration for the book came from his own experiences growing up in the Philippines and also from a Fulbright scholarship assignment there. 

“I have known many illustrators over the years who have never gotten into this competition. It is the top annual competition for illustrators in the world. I feel extremely humbled by this and can hardly believe I was selected,” said Bouw, whose illustrations have been published by Harvard University, University of Massachusetts, University of Washington, Lafayette College, Cumberland College, Northwest Nazarene University, and others.

“Memories of my home country have always been an influence in my work. I was born in the Philippines where I spent most of my childhood. I grew up speaking a tribal dialect, loving the smell of durian, making bamboo cannons, and thinking that everyone decorated Christmas trees in September,” he said in his bio on his website. “Of the handful of awards I have received over the years, my greatest joy was to serve as a Fulbright scholar in the Department of Fine Arts and Architecture at the University of Mindanao, Philippines. I am extremely proud to be from the Philippines and more specifically, the island of Mindanao. As an illustrator and author, I hope to honor and preserve the culture and traditions of my childhood home, one story at a time.”

Bouw earned a Master of Fine Arts from The School of Visual Arts in New York. As a professional illustrator, he has served clients including Sky Pony/Simon & Schuster, Young Dragons Press, Annie’s Publishing, Oxford University Press, Crooked Lane Books, Book of the Month Club, The Chronicle of Higher Education, The AARP, Education Week, Sojourners, Improbable Philanthropy, and Christianity Today.