Al Jarnow

Al Jarnow is a filmmaker, sculptor and visual artist born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1945. As a student, he attended Dartmouth College and later the Brooklyn Museum Art School. From 1968, Jarnow began directing animated films, making his first short, The Owl and the Pussycat (1968). In 1970, he was hired by the Sesame Workshop production company to develop regular animated pieces for the children's television series Sesame Street. Between the 1970s and the 1990s, under the auspices of this programme broadcast on PBS, Jarnow produced and/or directed over a hundred short films, some of which have found their way onto the experimental film circuit, such as Yak (1970), Bench (1980), Real Cats Drink Milk (1982) and Architecture (1980). He also worked on the television series 3-2-1 Contact. In addition to his facet as a filmmaker, Jarnow has also worked as a graphic artist for Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine and editions of Agatha Christie. His work as a designer has been exhibited at MoMA in New York and the Centre Pompidou in Paris, among other renowned contemporary museums.

His animated short films use experimental techniques such as stop-motion, timelapse and cel animation to bring everyday objects to life for educational purposes. The films often illustrate concepts, morals and historical lessons to be taught to young children.

Jarnow has also specialised in children's museum design, creating exhibits for museums such as the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., Brooklyn's Children Museum and the San Francisco Exploratorium, as well as being the founder and principal designer of the Long Island Children's Museum.