Endurance art is an artistic expression through acts of physical pain, trauma, survival, or deprivation. Roots can be found in religious asceticism which links physical deprivation to physical transcendence and therefore a way of spiritual transformation.

One of the earliest cases of endurance art occurred in the early fifth century when Saint Simeon Stylites lived atop a pillar for 39 years. Simeon despaired of the ever increasing number of people who frequently came to him for prayers and advice, leaving him little if any time for his private austerities. Simeon discovered a pillar which had survived amongst ruins, formed a small platform at the top, and upon this determined to live out his life.

Contemporary endurance artists include Chris Burden, Khoo Swee Chiow and American magician David Blaine.

David Blaine (born David Blaine White; April 4, 1973) is an American illusionist and endurance artist. He is best known for his high-profile feats of endurance, and has made his name as a performer of street and close-up magic. He has set and broken several world records. Theatre owner James Nederlander as well as The New York Times have referred to Blaine as a modern day Houdini.

Blaine was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York and is of Puerto Rican descent on his father's side, and Russian Jewish on his mother's. His mother, Patrice Maureen White (1946–1995), was a school teacher living in New York, and his father William Perez was a Vietnam veteran. When he was four years old, he saw a magician performing magic in the subway. This sparked an interest in Blaine. He was raised by his single mother and attended many schools in Brooklyn. When he was ten years old, his mother married John Bukalo and they moved to Little Falls, New Jersey, where he attended Passaic Valley Regional High School. He has a half-brother named Michael James Bukalo. When he was 17 years old, Blaine moved to Manhattan, New York.

Justin Willman is an American actor, magician and entertainer. He currently hosts two Food Network series, Cupcake Wars and Last Cake Standing, and two shows on The Hub, Hubworld, and Scrabble Showdown. He also makes appearances in live magic shows around the country.

Television appearances include The Defenders, The Suite Life on Deck, Room 401 (produced by Ashton Kutcher), The Today Show, and multiple appearances on the The Rachael Ray Show, as well as commercials. In March 2012 he appeared in The Ellen DeGeneres Show

Willman is an alumnus of Emerson College in Boston and St. Louis' Ladue High School.

Helen Sewell (1896–1957) was a children's book illustrator and author. She won a 1955 Caldecott Honor for The Thanksgiving Story and illustrated several Newbery Honor novels. Some of her papers were donated to the University of Minnesota.

She was born June 27, 1896 at Mare Island, California; her father was William Elbridge Sewell, who later became Governor of Guam. Sewell studied at the Pratt Institute, including classes with Alexander Archipenko. Her first publication was in 1923 and she continued to illustrate children's books throughout her life, as well as some adult publications. She created the original drawings for Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books (later replaced by those of Garth Williams). She died on February 24, 1957, in New York City.

List of works illustrated with accompanying author