Jan Spivey Gilchrist's career as a fine artist has spanned a quarter of a century. She has exhibited extensively throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and the Caribbean. Ms. Gilchrist has won numerous awards and commissions throughout her career, including the Coretta Scott King Award for NathanielTalking, and a Coretta Scott King Honor Book for Night on Neighborhood Street. This book is also a Reading Rainbow Book. Ms. Gilchrist is also the author of two picture books, Indigo and Moonlight Gold, and Madelia. Indigo and Moonlight Gold is treasured by many for its sensitive and moving text, as well as the striking illustrations, and Madelia is a beautifully illustrated story of an artistic young girl. In the Land of Words was named a 2005 Notable Children's Book in the Language Arts (Children's Literature Assembly/NCTE).  Ms. Gilchrist's works have appeared on national television. Her illustrations have been featured or reviewed in the New York Times, Boston Globe, Washington Post, L.A.Times , USA Today, Chicago Tribune, Ebony Magazine, and others. She was inducted in the International Hall of Fame for Writers of African Descent in October of 2000. She was inducted in the prestigious Society of Illustrators in 2001. View some of Ms. Gilchrist's artwork here.

Jan Spivey Gilchrist has a grown son, William, who as a boy was the model she used for William and the Good Old Days by Eloise Greenfield. She also has a daughter, Ronke, and a granddaughter, Raena Bethany Prude.

Jan and her husband, Dr. Kelvin Gilchrist, live in a suburb of Chicago, Illinois.