Jimmy Carter became the first former U.S. president to reach the age of 100 on Tuesday, Oct. 1, despite having lived the last 19 months in home hospice care. Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter co-founded the Carter Center in 1982, the year after Jimmy left office, with the stated mission to “wage peace, fight disease and build hope.” The international nonprofit’s mission is something Rogers supports eagerly, and he is proud to use his art to contribute to the Carters’ legacy.

Rogers was originally connected with the Carter Center through his representative, Kiki Pollard, who he worked with for many years during his career as an illustrator. He has worked on numerous projects for the center, including covers for several of their annual reports.

His most recent work for the center was for the 2023 annual report, which was released in the wake of Rosalynn’s death on Nov. 19, 2023. The Carter Center asked Rogers to make the cover all about her. The end result was a portrait based on a photo of Jimmy gazing lovingly at Rosalynn, with intricate line work in the background representing all of the things the former first lady championed.

“She traveled with him when they were doing election work. She did the Habitat for Humanity stuff,” Rogers said. “She’s been known to be right there.”

A butterfly on Rosalynn’s chest represents her mental health advocacy, which was central to her public service career. This cause is close to Rogers’ heart as well. There has been so much stigma around mental health for so many years, he said, but he feels mental health is finally getting the attention it needs.

“Now you can go and say, ‘I really would like to talk to somebody,’ and you can find somebody that knows exactly what you’re going through,” Rogers said.

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A part of something bigger

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Rogers earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in fine arts from George Washington University, which he attended on a full basketball scholarship. In a way, his work at the Carter Center reminds him of his days playing on the GW basketball team because it is collaborative.

“I get to be a part of a team,” Rogers said.

The covers that Rogers designed also become a source of graphic design elements for the team that puts the reports together. His illustrations are scattered throughout the book, framing the pages and layered over photographs. Rogers loves the way the team uses his art thoughtfully throughout the reports.

Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter are ideal art subjects for Rogers. He has always admired the former president — he was a high school student at Lake Placid High School during his presidency (1977-1981). But as he has learned more about the Carters during his partnership with the center, he has come to admire his actions out of office as much, if not more. He admires Carter’s tireless humanitarian work, as well as the simple life that the former president continues to live in his hometown of Plains, Georgia.

“I think I admire that most of all,” Rogers said.

With his art, Rogers said he is always trying to tell a story. In his varied career, he has published illustrations in the Washington Post, Sports Illustrated, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. He especially enjoys his work with the Carter Center because it is connected to something larger.

“I like to take on projects with some kind of oomph,” Rogers said.

And in some ways, the art keeps on giving. A print of his 2023 cover was recently included in an auction, along with some of Jimmy Carter’s own art and tools, that raised a significant sum for the Carter Center.

“I’ve always considered President Carter my favorite president, not only because of his humanitarian efforts but also his creativity. He was a painter and a visual artist himself,” Rogers wrote in a press release. “Being able to contribute to their mission through my art has been a profound honor.”

To learn more about the work the Carter Center is doing around the world, visit “http://www.cartercenter.org” rel=”noopener” target=”_blank”>www.cartercenter.org. Rogers’ work can be viewed at Gallery 46 in Lake Placid, and his mixed media painting “Dockside” is part of an open juried show at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts through Nov. 2.