In 2012 I wrote a piece for this blog entitled Art in the Children’s Room: Elisha Cooper Style.  In it, I wrote the following:

Here at New York Public Library you might think that the branches are filled to brimming with the art of local authors and illustrators.  While it may be true that we have some lovely pieces by Ezra Jack Keats and Faith Ringgold here and there, it doesn’t come up all that often.  So I need not tell you how excited I was when I heard that Elisha Cooper had volunteered out of the goodness of his golden glorious heart to paint art for the children’s room in Greenwich Village’s Jefferson Market Branch.

What I can tell you now is that the art of New York artists is achingly absent from the various branches of New York Public Library.  Why is this?  I’ve heard any number of reasons, from the fact that if the walls had original art they could never be repainted again to the fact that art makes the branches too distinct from one another.  In other words, silly reasons.  Of course the Jefferson Market Branch is different.  A magical little fortress standing tall and proud in Greenwich Village, it often gets away with the impossible.

With all this in mind, you can imagine how thrilled I was when Mr. Cooper told me this week that he’d just completely new art for the branch.  What kind?  Well, see for yourself:

So gorgeous.  Thanks for the update, Elisha!  Please be sure to check out his heart-wrenching memoir Falling: A Daughter, a Father, and a Journey Back if you’ve a chance.  It’s worth your attention and then some.