In Celebration details the life and art of Ruth Grotenrath (1912–88), an American artist whose work spanned the middle fifty years of the twentieth century. Tracing Grotenrath’s influences and methods of working—from her earliest American Regionalist paintings and WPA murals to the colorful still lifes that captured the imagination of her many fans and patrons—Susan Montgomery depicts the artist’s unique perceptions of her intimate environment and her efforts to reflect the vibrant beauty of the world around her. Her best-known works are sensual, bountiful floral still lifes. In Celebration documents Grotenrath’s rich personal and professional life with her husband and fellow artist, Schomer Lichtner, through interviews, photographs, and newspaper articles. The pair, who became heralded as Milwaukee’s “first couple of art,” supported themselves as artists throughout their lives, even during the Depression and World War II. In the 1960s, Grotenrath traveled to Japan and studied Asian art, which influenced her work for the rest of her life. Grotenrath’s work is represented in the collections of many museums throughout the United States, primarily in Wisconsin and the Midwest.

A collection of rich artifacts from one thousand years of artistic production in what is now Missouri. Art Along the Rivers marks the two-hundredth anniversary of Missouri's statehood. This exhibition catalogue presents extraordinary objects produced or collected within a 150-mile region around St. Louis, including paintings, sculptures, drawings, furniture, ceramics, metals, and textiles. As a celebration of the cultural and artistic traditions of this region, the catalog looks within--and beyond--the years of statehood to reveal how the region's geography, raw materials, and pressing social issues shaped over one thousand years of rich artistic production. Though these objects have rarely been considered in connection with one another, the catalog brings them into dialogue to establish and celebrate their shared artistic history. Art Along the Rivers serves as the first significant publication to introduce this primary artistic material to a global audience.

“The pieces in this book possess three qualities rarely found in combination. First, a sympathetic encounter with creative individuals and a lucid communication of their point of view. Second, an awareness of the critical discourse around the artistic practice concerned, which allows the framing of germane questions. Third, a personal response to the art conveyed through eloquently descriptive prose…Prema Viswanathan writes with equal respect for purists and reformers, for rootedness and cross-cultural exploration. Rather than dogmatically choose one side over the other, she picks the best and most interesting from each world… Taken as a whole, this collection provides an important resource toward better understanding a slice of India’s artistic history.”– Girish Shahane

A “canny, funny, impressively detailed debut novel” (The New York Times) that blurs the lines between life and art with the story of a film director’s unthinkable experiment in the Amazon jungle. When a nameless, struggling actor in 1970s New York gets the call that an enigmatic director wants him for an art film set in the Amazon, he doesn’t hesitate: he flies to South America, no questions asked. He quickly realizes he’s made a mistake. He’s replacing another actor who quit after seeing the script—a script the director now claims doesn’t exist. The movie is over budget. The production team seems headed for a breakdown. The air is so wet that the celluloid film disintegrates. But what the actor doesn’t realize is that the greatest threat might be the town itself, and the mysterious shadow economy that powers this remote jungle outpost. Entrepreneurial Americans, international drug traffickers, and M-19 guerillas are all fighting for South America’s future—and the groups aren’t as distinct as you might think. The actor thought this would be a role that would change his life. Now he’s worried if he’ll survive it. This “gripping, ambitious…vivid, scary novel” (Publishers Weekly) is a thrilling journey behind the scenes of a shocking film and a thoughtful commentary on violence and its repercussions.

Longlisted for the PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award “A deeply felt and passionately expressed manifesto.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred) A meditation in the spirit of John Berger and bell hooks on art as protest, contemplation, and beauty in politically perilous times As people consider how to respond to a resurgence of racist, xenophobic populism, A Mouth Is Always Muzzled tells an extraordinary story of the ways art brings hope in perilous times. Weaving disparate topics from sugar and British colonialism to attacks on free speech and Facebook activism and traveling a jagged path across the Americas, Africa, India, and Europe, Natalie Hopkinson, former culture writer for the Washington Post and The Root, argues that art is where the future is negotiated. Part post-colonial manifesto, part history of British Caribbean, part exploration of art in the modern world, A Mouth Is Always Muzzled is a dazzling analysis of the insistent role of art in contemporary politics and life. In crafted, well-honed prose, Hopkinson knits narratives of culture warriors: painter Bernadette Persaud, poet Ruel Johnson, historian Walter Rodney, novelist John Berger, and provocative African American artist Kara Walker, whose homage to the sugar trade Sugar Sphinx electrified American audiences. A Mouth Is Always Muzzled is a moving meditation documenting the artistic legacy generated in response to white supremacy, brutality, domination, and oppression. In the tradition of Paul Gilroy, it is a cri de coeur for the significance of politically bold—even dangerous—art to all people and nations.