Mary's Corner

The town of McAlester, Oklahoma, Mary’s birthplace, recently held a contest to find an artist to paint a mural honoring Mary’s life and work. The winner, Carmen Taylor, did a wonderful job of applying her creative vision onto a very large canvas—the side of a local downtown building owned by Courtney Beene of the Honey Beene Boutique. Look for several unique touches including the White Rabbit’s pocket watch set to 10:21 in honor of Mary’s birthday, October 21st (1911). 

A beautiful book which includes extensive chapters on both Mary and Lee Blair, and includes Disney artwork never before seen by the public!

The 1950s and 1960s at The Walt Disney Studios marked unprecedented stylistic directions brought on by the mid-century modern and graphic sensibilities of a new wave of artists. This volume explores the contributions of these heroes with special emphasis on the art of Lee Blair, Mary Blair, Tom Oreb, John Dunn, and Walt Peregoy. It includes never-before-seen images from Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, and Sleeping Beauty and discusses Disney's first forays into television, commercials, space, and science projects—even the development of theme parks. Drawing on interviews and revealing hundreds of rediscovered images that inspired Disney's films during one of its most prolific eras, this volume captures the rich stories of the artists who brought the characters to life and helped shape the future of animation.

This delightful book has a wonderful chapter on Mary Blair.

Based on Mindy's critically acclaimed Disney Editions title, Ink & Paint: The Women of Walt Disney's Animation, this nonfiction picture book is a fun and inspiring look at many of the amazing women who have worked at Disney Animation over the years— from Story Artists, to Animators to Inkers and Painters, all with unique personalities and accomplishments, such as becoming a record-holding pilot, or designing Hollywood Monsters, or creating an international club for tall people!

Amy Guglielmo, Jacqueline Tourville, and Brigette Barrager team up to tell the joyful and unique story of the trailblazing Disney artist Mary Blair. From her imaginative childhood to her career as an illustrator, designer, and animator for Walt Disney Studios, Mary wouldn’t play by the rules. At a time when studios wanted to hire men and think in black and white, Mary painted twinkling emerald skies, peach giraffes with tangerine spots, and magenta horses that could fly.

Nucleus is proud to collaborate with the Mary Blair estate to present a curated collection of prints. Many rare and unseen, these reproduction of images by Mary Blair will only be available through Nucleus and will debut on opening night.

Inspired by the artwork of Disney artist Mary Blair, Pottery Barn Kid's exclusive collection channels her spontaneous use of color and childlike sense of wonder. Thoughtfully re-interpreted by their own artists, the collection captures the spirits of ten favorite Disney Princesses who inspire your little one to own their dreams.

Also found at the Museum Store is the newly released coffee table sized book, South of the Border with Disney by J.B. Kaufman. This beautiful 335 page book is the most captivating and detailed account ever written of the famous “Goodwill Tour” undertaken by Disney and a few hand-picked artists beginning in 1941. Art and photos of Mary are scattered throughout along with accounts from her fellow artists about how her own uniquely simple, bold and colorful style began to emerge. The book can also be purchased on Amazon.com.

The compelling documentary film version of this famous journey is also meticulously produced and titled Walt and El Grupo. As Walt Disney and his group of artists traveled from country to country and hotel to hotel, they became collectively known as simply, “El Grupo”. You can also read some comments on the film by Maggie Richardson.

From the doodle artist, Mike Dutton: "I was greatly honored for the opportunity to create a doodle for Mary Blair's 100th birthday. Not to mention somewhat intimidated! Her work was and continues to be a major source of inspiration for a large number of artists working in animation, illustration, and fine art... and the Google Doodle team. So there was some pressure to get it right!"

Purchase merchandise with Mary's Google Doodle