Fine Artist Supports Early Childhood Literacy in Western CT
United Way of Western Connecticut (UWWC) is launching a community outreach campaign and a donated oil painting from award-winning Bridgewater artist, Ed Little, is the prize. UWWC is pleased to announce our Reading Stars contest which begins on April 13 and runs through April 30, with public voting taking place thereafter to select the winner. UWWC is looking for a winning photo of a child under the age of five who currently is enrolled in our Imagination Library program; the winning child becomes this year’s UWWC Reading Star and is awarded with this donated oil painting. It is a great partnership between a local award-winning artist and UWWC’s efforts in early literacy, and Ed should be recognized for his generosity to the community.
When Ed first heard of United Way’s Imagination Library program, he was intrigued. Growing up in England in the 1960s, books were far too expensive to buy for many and were very coveted. When he immigrated to the U.S., he noticed that book stores were everywhere. Books were also sold at more reasonable costs. His children shared his love for books and would ask for them every Christmas as their main gift. So when he found out about the Imagination Library program which has served more than 8,800 children in Western CT, he was eager to lend his support.
One of the goals of this collaboration is to increase awareness of our Imagination Library program. In 2008, UWWC teamed up with The Dollywood Foundation to provide books to preschoolers across Western Connecticut through Imagination Library. The goal of this program is to ensure that all children (from birth to age 5) in the region — regardless of their socio-economic status — have access to quality reading materials and to encourage parents and caregivers to read with their children. This program is now available in these ten communities across Western Connecticut including: Bethel, Bridgewater, Danbury, Kent, New Fairfield, New Milford, Newtown, Stamford, Warren, and Washington. This March, UWWC proudly announced a significant milestone with the 100,000th Imagination Library book delivered to a Danbury child.
PHOTO CAPTION: Four-year-old Elliott and his mother Monet visit with award-winning fine artist Ed Little in his art studio in Bridgewater and show him their favorite Imagination Library Book “My Little Train” by Satomi Ichikawa.
ABOUT ED LITTLE
Edward Little is a naturalized American citizen who was born in the United Kingdom. He obtained his BA in Editorial and Information Design, graduating summa cum laude from Ravensbourne College of Art in London and his MFA in Figurative painting at the Academy of Art University, San Francisco. Once in the United States, Little began freelancing as a designer and illustrator. He obtained representation in New York and California and built a successful business serving clients in corporate advertising and publishing, including American Express, Citicorp, IBM, Mars, Pepsi, Pfizer, Reader’s Digest and Warner. In 1996, he was commissioned to create his first mural and spent the following ten years concentrating on interior decorative painting, trompe l’oeil effects and mural painting while completing numerous private and corporate portrait commissions. Currently, Little is concentrating on portraiture and New York Cityscape painting for galleries in New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts. Little teaches Drawing and Art History at Western Connecticut State University. He is a member of the American Portrait Society and Oil Painters of America.