Kaylani J. McCard was awarded the 2021 Savageau Award for a Master of Fine Arts design student on June 10 during a virtual opening celebration of the annual Arts and Humanities Graduate Exhibition at UC Davis. The show is accessible through the Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art website until Sept. 6.

McCard (also known as Kaylani Juanita) is a freelance picture book illustrator and writer. She received a Coretta Scott King 2021 Illustrator Honor for her Illustrations in Magnificent Homespun Brown, as well as a Stonewall Book Award for When Aidan Became a Brother. Some of her clients include Chronicle Books, Tilbury House, Lee and Low and many more.

The San Francisco Public Library has selected McCard as the 2021 Summer Stride Artist, an annual summer learning, reading and exploration program for all ages. 

Her focus is counter-storytelling based on her experience as a biracial Black woman. McCard strives to create new ways for people to imagine themselves.

Established in 2019, the Savageau Award is aimed at furthering the career of a graduating M.F.A. design student and to encourage, recognize and celebrate creative and original contributions to the discipline of design. It is named for Ann Savageau, a professor in the UC Davis Department of Design from 2007 to 2014.