Artwork by Tim Bowers

SPEAK!, a collection of works of art from the children’s book by the same name, edited by Michael J. Rosen, will be on display in the Dudley and Mary Marks Lea Gallery at The University of Findlay through Aug. 8.  

The Lea Gallery, located in the Virginia B. Gardner Fine Arts Pavilion on the UF campus, is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. and Sunday from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m. Additional times are available by contacting Jeff Salisbury, gallery director, at jsalisbury@findlay.edu.

The book version of SPEAK! was created to benefit the Mazza Museum of International Art from Picture Books at the University. Contemporary children’s book illustrators worked together to create “SPEAK! Children’s Book Illustrators Brag About Their Dogs.”

Each illustrator created a one-page image of his or her favorite canine, accompanied by a short story or poem. There are more than 30,000 copies of the book in print. The SPEAK! exhibit contains 22 of the original works of art that appear in the book.

An exhibition that lends itself to family fun, SPEAK! includes whimsical dog portraits, lovingly depicted by an impressive list of artists. The result is a serendipitous mélange of poignant, funny and sometimes emotion-provoking images of the relationship between human and canine.

The Mazza Museum has the distinction of being the first and largest teaching museum in the world specializing in the original artwork from picture books. Its mission is to promote literacy through its educational programs and to collect, exhibit and preserve original art from children’s books. Pieces in its collection number more than 3,500.

The museum is located in the Gardner Fine Arts Pavilion at the University. Visit www.findlay.edu, KEYWORD: mazza, for museum hours and additional information.