Dare Coulter Wins Award

The award honors African American authors and illustrators of outstanding books for children and young adults.

Coulter’s oeuvre includes many excellent illustrations for a number of books, including My N.C. from A to Z and Bountiful Red Acres.

You can’t spell heart without art, and Dare Coulter has worked to create a career that focuses around heart-felt presentations of the human experience, life, joy, and resilience. Coulter is an award-winning professional sculptor, artist, muralist, and illustrator.

Through her paintings, illustrations, murals, and sculptures, Coulter hopes to inspire kids to dream, become something great, and pass on beautiful and positive imagery for generations to come.

Her most recent notable work includes a 200-foot mural in Greensboro honoring oft-unmentioned Black cowboys, and a painting of Nina Simone commissioned by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The painting was used to raise funds to restore Nina Simone’s childhood home in Brevard, NC.

She has illustrated nine children’s books, including An American Story and You Are My Sunshine. While Coulter is pursuing her dream of creating monumental sculptures to Black joy all over the world, she is having a great time visiting schools and painting murals, and sharing her passion for art with the world.

Coulter was born in Augusta, GA and raised in Lorton, VA. For the second half of her life she has lived in and around Raleigh, NC where the bulk of her public artwork has been created. She graduated from North Carolina State University with a Bachelor’s in Art and Design, but considers herself a graduate of Meredith College’s art program.

An American Story was written by Kwame Alexander and illustrated by Dare Coulter. This book is perfect for family sharing, the classroom, and homeschooling.

From the fireside tales in an African village, through the unspeakable passage across the Atlantic, to the backbreaking work in the fields of the South, this is a story of a people’s struggle and strength, horror and hope.

This is the story of American slavery, a story that needs to be told and understood by all of us. A testament to the resilience of the African American community, this book honors what has been and envisions what is to be.

With stunning mixed-media illustrations by award-winning artist Dare Coulter, this is a potent book for those who want to speak the truth.

In 2019, the North Carolina African American Heritage Commission published My N.C. from A to Z, a children’s board book written by folklorist Michelle Lanier and illustrated by North Carolina artist Dare Coulter.

Children and parents will love learning their very first ideas about North Carolina from this enchanting book. My N.C. from A to Z follows the traditional ABC-book format of “A is for Apple, B is for Ball,” but uses the same letters to highlight notable Black NC events, places, and traditions.

This wonderful book celebrates the great state of North Carolina, highlighting our African American heritage, unveiling historical landmarks, and introducing kids to social justice icons. Spotlights include the Great Dismal Swamp, Ella Baker, Black Wall Street, and Pauli Murray.

This colorful, sturdy board book celebrates pride of place, creates connections to North Carolina’s rich African American heritage, and teaches children about human equality and social justice.

A is for Anna Julia Cooper and Abraham Galloway, and B is for Black Wall Street—a perfect first baby or toddler book.

To learn more about Dare, and to view and purchase some of her amazing work, visit www.darecoulter.com.