ARTIST BIO
Children's Book Illustrator
Instructor
Author
Cheryl in first grade
Children's Book Illustrator
Cheryl Kirk Noll, Illustrator
Cheryl is an award-winning children's book illustrator.
She grew up in Delaware and graduated from Lebanon Valley College in Annville PA with a degree in elementary education. She taught fourth grade in Smyrna, Delaware...the same town where she lived when she was in elementary school.
She moved to Providence to study illustration at Rhode Island School of Design, and still lives there with her husband and son.
Cheryl has combined her interest in illustration and education, focusing on multicultural and historic themes, and doing much of her illustration work for the educational market.
A Basket of Bangles, and the Black Regiment of the American Revolution, illustrated by Cheryl Kirk Noll
Many of her projects involve research, and she has illustrated stories from diverse cultures and time periods, such as the Hmong of Southeast Asia and the Han and Ming dynasties of China.
She has researched immigrant stories from Ellis Island to Angel Island, and folklore of the Native American tribes such as the Micmac, Alutiiq, and Sioux, both pre and post European contact.
Instructor
RISD Summer Studies Student in Children's Book I
In addition to her freelance work, Cheryl teaches Children's Book Illustration and watercolor workshops at Rhode Island School of Design-CE. She was the advisor for the Children's Book Illustration certificate program for 10 years.
She has also done many school residencies. She's available to do school visits or speak at teacher, illustrator and librarian conferences.
Author
In 2013, Cheryl contributed three biographies to Women of the Ocean State: 25 Rhode Island Women You Should Know. The book is geared towards ages 9 and up, and includes a timeline, glossary and references for each biography.
After years of researching historical characters, Cheryl was delighted to turn her research into words instead of art.
(Lisa Greenleaf did the illustrations for the book.)
She wrote about:
- Christiana Carteaux Bannister: a black businesswoman and community activist who lived from 1819-1903.
- Sarah Elizabeth Doyle: a champion for women's education who lived in Providence all her life, from 1830-1922.
- O. Rogeriee Thompson: A black woman born in a segregated state, currently serving as a judge for the Federal Court of Appeals for the 1st circuit.
Women of the Ocean State: 25 Rhode Island Women You Should Know
