Teen Artist Highlights the Right to Read in Award-winning Artwork

Inspired by her grandmother’s struggle with systemic illiteracy in her Indigenous community, 17-year-old Joselyn Chimbo won the New York Public Library’s National Teen Art Contest for her painting celebrating the freedom to read.

Her work serves as a powerful critique of modern book bans and a tribute to the matriarchs who sacrificed to ensure future generations could access the knowledge and social mobility education provides.

The $500 grand prize put Joselyn Chimbo's canvas in the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, but the argument inside keeps losing ground. Inspired by a grandmother denied schooling in her Indigenous community, the 17 year old won the New York Public Library's National Teen Art Contest among 21 honorees, her painting honoring matriarchs who fought for literacy the library's announcement. PEN America counted 6,870 public school book bans in the same school year, mostly striking LGBTQ titles and books about people of color, past 22,800 nationwide since 2021 PEN America. Her work hung through the summer of 2025; the bans keep counting.