London Ladd
ILLUSTRATOR/AUTHOR
Multi-nominated NAACP Image Award Candidate | 2025 BCALA & SLJ Award for Nonfiction Award-Winner | Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts
London Ladd paints with purpose. Each brushstroke carries the echoes of history—strength, struggle, and triumph. His art breathes life into forgotten voices, turning moments into memory. With a signature mixed-media technique combining acrylic, cut paper, and tissue, London brings narratives to life in vivid texture and emotion. His work has graced the pages of HarperCollins, The New York Times, and Scientific American, and even extends into community murals that resonate far beyond the page.
A celebrated artist, London has received the BCALA & School Library Journal Children & Youth Nonfiction Award, the SCBWI Crystal Kite Honor, and has been shortlisted for the World Illustration Awards, while also earning an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts from SUNY and multiple NAACP Image Award nominations. As an Assistant Teaching Professor at Syracuse University—where he earned both his BFA and MFA—he nurtures the next generation of illustrators and dreams of launching a community arts center in Syracuse that will make creativity accessible to all families, regardless of income. When London speaks or illustrates live, students lean in, inspired to believe: “My story matters. My art has the power to change the world.”
New in 2025: London Ladd is the recipient of the 2025 Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA) & School Library Journal (SLJ) Children & Youth Literary Award for his picture book biography, A Voice of Hope: The Myrlie Evers-Williams Story, written by Nadia Salomon.
Location: Syracuse, NY
“Art is my way of honoring history and inspiring the future. Every Image is a voice, every page is a platform to remind students: your story matters, and your art can change the world” ~London Ladd”
Signature Presentations:
Live Drawing & Visual Storytelling: Students experience illustration in real time, watching art come alive on the page
Read-Alouds & Book Talks: Featuring acclaimed works like March On!, The Day My Brother Martin Changed the World, Opal Lee and What It Means to Be Free, Frederick’s Journey, My Red, White and more.
Conversations on Perseverance & Purpose: A powerful message on creativity, resilience, and following one’s calling
Behind-the-Scenes Illustration Process + Q&A: Interactive sessions that give students tools and insight into the craft of storytelling through art
Audiences: K-7th and beyond | Classrooms | School Assemblies | Libraries | Conferences | Keynote | Panels & Workshops
Availability & Honorariums: Contact Coy Brantley-Carlos
