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Immerse yourself in the visual language of the Wabanaki tribe and learn about how the art was---and continues to be--preserved and celebrated.

For centuries, the people of the Wabanaki Nations of the northeastern United States and eastern Canada used signs, symbols and designs to communicate with one another. As Native Peoples became victims of European expansion, the Wabanaki were separated by war, the search for work and intermarriage, as well as by hiding their identities to avoid persecution. In this diaspora, their visual language helped them keep their teachings and culture alive. Their designs have evolved over time and taken on different meanings, and they are now used on objects that are considered art. While their beauty is undeniable, these pieces cannot be fully appreciated without understanding their context. Tribal member Jeanne Morningstar Kent sheds light on this language, from the work of ancient Wabanaki to today's artists--like David Moses Bridges, Donna Sanipass and Jennifer Neptune--once again using their medium to connect with their fellow Wabanaki.

Located between the urban centers of New York City and Boston, the city of Meriden, Connecticut, has been an important hub for art and artisans for over a century. The city's rich tradition of innovative design has long been acknowledged as an outstanding contribution to the larger development of American art. Many of America's leading artists have come from or lived in Meriden, including 19th-century sculptor Chauncey B. Ives, early-20th-century painter Ethel Easton Paxson, and, in more recent years, children's book author/ illustrator Tomie dePaola. Meriden's art scene blossomed with an abundance of artistic talent at the beginning of the 20th century. This convergence of artists and designers ultimately led to the creation of an artist colony. In late 1907, the Arts and Crafts Association of Meriden was formed and, to its acclaim, remains the second-oldest continuously active arts organization in the state. Today, Meriden's tradition as a center for art, design, and aesthetics continues.

Weir Farm National Historic Site is Connecticut's first national park and the only one in America dedicated to painting. No other book chronicles the property's rescue from residential development to its establishment as a park. The story is told through the only artistic photographic collection documenting Weir Farm National Historic Site, most of which has never been published before. Weir Farm was the home of Julian Alden Weir (1852-1919), a leading innovator of American Impressionism. The farm's landscape inspired countless masterpieces created by Weir, his famous painter-friends, two subsequent generations of artist-owners, and contemporary artists who continue to create at the park. In 2020, this iconic site will be featured on the US quarter.

Fitz H. Lane's maritime masterpieces are known throughout the world, but the man himself has eluded both historians and art critics for over a century.

The Luminist painter's successful career began in his early childhood in picturesque Gloucester, Massachusetts and his talents developed and matured over time, making him one of the nation's premier nineteenth-century artists.

Throughout his career, Lane painted with a vitality and attention to detail that was purely American at heart, and it is in pursuit of this ideal that James Craig embarks on a detective's investigation to reconstruct with accuracy and honesty the details of a man about whom much has been written but little revealed. Few clues remain today about the artist who so thoroughly embodied the American spirit during "one of humanity's most dramatic and confusing historical epochs." Lane's era was one of great change for America, and both he and his art were there to capture that spirit.

This dazzling and exhaustive effort provides the first glimpse behind the canvas, beyond the career and into the soul of Fitz H. Lane. Passionate, stunning and thrilling, this is a narrative that returns life and color to a man intent or preserving and presenting the life of the culture he loved. James Craig has given Gloucester back one of her favorite sons.