Findlay, Ohio, Oct. 22, 2004 – The University of Findlay’s Mazza Museum will award its Mazza Medallion of Excellence for Artistic Diversity to artist Robert Sabuda in a special ceremony on Tuesday, Oct. 26 at 5 p.m. at Books of Wonder in New York City.

The Mazza Medallion is a biennial award given by the Mazza Museum at The University of Findlay to recognize an outstanding artist of children’s books. The key criterion for choosing a recipient is the candidate’s sensitivity to the varying requirements of different stories. Therefore, this award is given to an artist of children’s books who has demonstrated his or her willingness to experiment with both styles and media of illustrating.

The Oct. 26 event marks the first time that the medallion will be awarded away from the University campus. Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing has planned and sponsored the ceremony.

Sabuda is known as the “prince of pop-ups,” an apt moniker for the amazing feats of paper engineering he has achieved in his illustrations of children’s books. His illustration styles have included linoleum prints, pastels, graphite, acrylic, stained glass, mosaic, paper collage, batik wax resist, and pencil and watercolor.

A native of Pinckney, Mich., Sabuda is a graduate of the art and design program of the Pratt Institute in New York. His first pop-up book, “The Christmas Alphabet,” was published in 1994 by Orchard Books. “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: A Commemorative Pop-Up,” published in 2000 by Little Simon, is considered his masterpiece with linoleum block prints and three to six pop-ups per page.

Sabuda’s most recent work is a pop-up interpretation of the beloved patriotic song “America the Beautiful.” Published on Oct. 19, 2004, the book includes seven pop-up spreads featuring illustrations of America’s diverse and beautiful landscapes, such as the Golden Gate Bridge, Mount Rushmore and the New York City skyline, complete with the Statue of Liberty. The book includes the lyrics to “America the Beautiful” and a mini-booklet featuring pop-ups of the Liberty Bell, a space shuttle, the World Trade Center and an American eagle.

For more information about Sabuda, visit www.robertsabuda.com and www.simonsayskids.com.

The Mazza Museum of International Art from Children’s Picture Books is the first and largest teaching gallery of its kind in the world. The museum was founded in 1982 with four pieces and was named for the first benefactors, Dr. August Mazza and his late wife, Aleda, alumni of the University. Today, the Mazza Museum contains more than 2,300 pieces of original artwork and conducts extensive educational programs to promote literacy and a lifelong appreciation of literature and the arts. More than 5,000 individuals visit the Museum each year.