Kadir Nelson is an award-winning American artist whose works have been exhibited it major national and intematicnal publications, institutions, art galleries, and museums. Nelson eamed a Bachelor’s degree from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York and has since created paintings for a host of distinguished clients including Sports Illustrated, The Coca-Cola Company, The United States Postal Service, Major League Baseball, and Dreamworks SKG where he worked as a visual development artist creating concept artwork for feature films, “Amistad", and “Spiit Stallion of the Cimarron". Many of Nelson's paintings are in the collections of notable institutions and public collections, induding the U.S. House of Representatives and the National Basebal Hall of Fame, as well as in the private collections of actors, professional athletes, and musicians. Nelson has also gained acclaim for the artwork he has contributed to several NYT Best-selling picture books including his authorial debut. "WE ARE THE SHIP: The Story of Negro League Baseball", winner of the Coretta Scott King and Robert F. Sibert Awards, and was published by Disney/Hyperion in the spring of 2008. Currently, Nelson's cover artwork is featured on the album "MlCHAEL", by the late pop singer icon Michael Jackson, Jackson’s first posthumous album release.