Memories of Mary Blair with Historian John Canemaker and Mary’s Niece Maggie Richardson

In celebration of our latest special exhibition, Mary Blair: Mid-Century Magic, join us for an exclusive presentation with historian and Mary Blair expert, John Canemaker, and Mary Blair’s niece and caretaker of her aunt’s estate, Maggie Richardson. Canemaker has written two books about Blair: The Art and Flair of Mary Blair (published by Disney Editions) and Magic Color Flair: The World of Mary Blair (published by Weldon Owen).

Tickets for Memories of Mary Blair with Historian John Canemaker and Mary’s Niece Maggie Richardson will be available as follows:

• Walt’s Circle Donors: Purchase tickets beginning Tuesday, May 13 at noon PST by emailing membership@wdfmuseum.org.
• Supporter, Founding, and Friend-level members: Purchase tickets beginning Wednesday, May 14 at noon PST by emailing membership@wdfmuseum.org.
• All member levels: Purchase tickets beginning Thursday, May 15 at noon PST via the Member Portal.
• Public (non-members): Purchase tickets online beginning Friday, May 16 at noon PST.

Join as a member or upgrade your current membership to receive priority access and discounts to programs like these. For more information, please visit our Membership page.

John Canemaker won an Academy Award® and an Emmy Award® for his animated short film The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation (2005). His films are part of the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.

He is the author of twelve acclaimed books on animation history, including The Art and Flair of Mary Blair, Magic Color Flair: The World of Mary Blair, and The Lost Notebook: Herman Schultheis & the Secrets of Walt Disney's Movie Magic. His many articles have appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Print, and Esopus.

Canemaker retired in 2022 after 40 years teaching as Professor and Head of Animation Studies at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. In 2025, he was inducted into The Animation Educators Hall of Fame, dedicated to artists and scholars whose teaching influenced the history of animation.

Margaret (“Maggie”) Elizabeth Richardson was born May 14, 1945, in San Jose, California. She grew up in the small nearby town of Campbell, along with her older sister Jeanne and their parents Peggy and Frank Richardson.

Richardson attended elementary and high school in Campbell, and, as a member of the school Art Honorary Society, prepared for a liberal arts degree at UCLA. However, a part-time job at the UCLA Medical Center redirected her path toward a degree and career in social work. After graduation, she began her calling as a hospital social worker, which would continue throughout both Southern California (UCLA) and Northern California (Stanford University Hospital). Her creative energies, however, found other part-time ways to be expressed: photography, graphic design, and soft sculpture art doll production based on the iconic “moon-faced” children created by her beloved aunt Mary Blair. 

In 2003, Richardson, her sister Jeanne, and their cousin Kevin Blair—Mary’s youngest son—formed a small company with a new website for the purpose of sharing the personal art of Mary Blair and telling her story, along with that of her husband, Lee Blair, and her brother-in-law, Preston Blair.

Sadly, Kevin Blair unexpectedly passed away in 2008, leaving the estates of the three Blairs to Maggie and Jeanne.

Richardson took an early retirement and relocated from Los Angeles to Northern California to be closer to Jeanne as they dealt with the numerous details of the three art estates. The sisters immediately took up where their cousin Kevin left off: assisting Studio Ghibli in the preparation of their Summer 2009 Tokyo exhibition The Colors of Mary Blair. The immense success of the Tokyo exhibition and the vast variety of merchandise produced was followed by other exhibits, books, and licensed products, which would keep Maggie and Jeanne busy for several enjoyable years to come.

Sadly, Jeanne passed away in 2023 at the age of 88.

Today, Richardson and her nephew Kevin Allinson (Mary’s great-nephew) continue as the family guardians of Mary Blair’s legacy, continuing to celebrate her gifts to the many fans who love her art, and are inspired by her life. Richardson will soon launch a new online venture—Mary Blair ART WEAR ™️—a new line of “fun” fashion produced exclusively in Los Angeles and available through Mary was known for combining unexpected colors and textures in unique ways and she loved collages. This new project combines pieces of her personal art and designs to create “collage” unisex sweaters and coordinating dog sweaters, in addition to new limited-edition soft sculpture art. www.magicofmaryblair.com.

Guests of The Walt Disney Family Museum can request American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters on-demand for our Talks, Workshops, School Experiences, Tours, and Storytimes. If you would like to request an ASL interpreter, please fill out the form linked below. Please note: Interpreter availability is not guaranteed and requests must be submitted at least two weeks in advance.

The museum is proud to partner with Bay Area Communication Access (BACA) for our ASL interpreter needs. For more information on their services, please visit BACA's website.

For more information on our Accessibility offerings, please visit our Accessibility page by clicking the link below.