Ian Wallace

Details

Inductee: Ian Wallace

Year inducted: 2008

About:

Ian Wallace was born in Niagara Falls in 1950 and lived in Niagara Falls for sixteen years. It was his hometown of Niagara Falls that first recognized his artistic endeavors, which ultimately inspired Ian to pursue a career in visual arts. When Ian was 8 years old, he entered a “drawing contest” sponsored by the Niagara Falls Public Library and won “book prize” in his age category. In Ian’s own words, “until that moment, no one had told me I had a special talent”.

He graduated from Ontario College of Arts in 1974 he enjoyed instant success at the age of 24, after only a
fortnight of writing when he had his first best seller with Angela Wood.

Niagara Falls’ influence features in many illustrations from Ian’s beautiful picture books. Two of the most distinct and notable examples are Architect of the Moon and The Sparrow’s Song. Throughout his career, Ian has visited Niagara Falls regularly to share his literary and artistic talent with children through school visits. Thousands of Niagara Falls children have grown up enriched by the contribution Ian Wallace has made to literature and visual arts.

He is an internationally celebrated author and illustrator. Ian’s outstanding achievements comprise a lengthy
list. Ian has published twenty books and several have been honored with awards and prizes that greatly
outnumber the number of books. Several of his books have been listed in McLean’s Magazine Best Books of the Year and he has even been nominated for the Hans Christian Anderson Award, the most prestigious
international award for children’s illustrator.