Houston's sprawl has come with controversy, but it has created a blank canvas for the public art community. It all started in the Telephone Road Place subdivision, where retired mail carrier Jefferson Davis McKissack built the Orange Show, an extraordinary and eccentric monument to self-reliance, hard work and, yes, the fruit itself. McKissack's installation spawned more of its kind in the Bayou City, like the Beer Can House, the Flower Man's House, Pigdom--one woman's "shrine to swine"--a...

Recipient of three National Endowment for the Arts grants and with works exhibited at the prestigious Biennale de Paris, New York’s Whitney Museum, the de Menil Collection in Houston, and other venues, Bob “Daddy-O” Wade started “keeping it weird” in 1961 when he arrived in Austin with his ’51 custom Ford hot rod and his slicked-back hair. Primed to study art at the University of Texas, Wade’s coif and dragster earned him his trademark moniker, and the abstract, welded sculptures he fashio...

Winner, 2019 Ron Tyler Award for Best Illustrated Book, sponsored by the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA)In this expansive and vigorous survey of the Houston art scene of the 1970s and 1980s, author Pete Gershon describes the city’s emergence as a locus for the arts, fueled by a boom in oil prices and by the arrival of several catalyzing figures, including museum director James Harithas and sculptor James Surls. Harithas was a fierce champion for Texan artists during his t...

The #1 New York Times –bestselling author of The Miracle of Dunkirk tells the story of the Texans who fought Santa Anna's troops at the Battle of the Alamo."Probably the best of all Alamo accounts . . . a history which should last." — The New York Times Book ReviewLooking out over the walls of the whitewashed Alamo, sweltering ...

In this panoramic novel set in historic Guthrie, Oklahoma, someone is stalking Quarter Horse breeder Kellie Sutton, and the one person who can protect her is the man whose heart she broke 15 years ago. Horses and land hunger brew into a rip-roaring tale of depravity, deceit, and family tragedy in this suspenseful equestrian novel.A prize stallion savaged. A beautiful daughter snatched. An ex-husband with a dark side.Will Sheriff Ed Campbell be able to put his broken heart as...

Ready to upgrade your artwork from framed Monet posters but intimidated by what you see in galleries?In The Intrepid Art Collector, Lisa Hunter shows you how to start a fine art collection without spending a fortune. This accessible, jargon-free resource contains up-to-date information on the most popular original art—everything from photography and posters to African art and animation—including where to find it and how to buy it at a fair price. Easy-to-use checkl...

During the 1930s in the United States, the Works Progress Administration developed the Federal Writers’ Project to support writers and artists while making a national effort to document the country’s shared history and culture. The American Guide series consists of individual guides to each of the states. Little-known authors-many of whom would later become celebrated literary figures-were commissioned to write these important books. John Steinbeck, Saul Bellow, Zora Neale Hurston, and Ral...

The purpose of this publication is not to intrude upon the Shalako event or the lives of the Zuni people; nor violate its sanctity but to assist with understanding the Zuni Shalako Ceremony. Anytime we can better understand an event, the more meaningful it becomes and the more sincere our appreciation of both the event and people. My experience suggests that most all non-Zunis attending Shalako do not have an understanding of the events. They attend because of relationships or their kinshi...

"Berryhill's account of this infamous 30-year-old murder case . . . Provides a jarring portrait of a once-medieval state prison." — Publishers WeeklyIn April 1981, two white Texas prison officials died at the hands of a black inmate at the Ellis prison farm near Huntsville. Warden Wallace Pack and farm manager Billy Moore were the highest-ranking Texas prison officials ever to die in the line of duty. The warden was drowned face down in a ditch. The farm m...

How high energy consumption transformed postwar Phoenix and deepened inequalities in the American SouthwestIn 1940, Phoenix was a small, agricultural city of sixty-five thousand, and the Navajo Reservation was an open landscape of scattered sheepherders. Forty years later, Phoenix had blossomed into a metropolis of 1.5 million people and the territory of the Navajo Nation was home to two of the largest strip mines in the world. Five coal-burning power plants surrou...

This book is a simple, no nonsense telling of New Mexico history and geography for those who are new to the Land of Enchantment and for those who want a quick, uncluttered story based on the theory that history should be fun. For those who want a meatier course, consider it an appetizer, a first course. Maps, a glossary, ideas for teachers, and a recommended reading list are included. There are no footnotes, which should please most people. Studies have proven that readers will learn more ...

The Texas Revolution is remembered chiefly for the 13-day siege of the Alamo and its immortal heroes.This book describes the war and the preceding years that were marked by resentments and minor confrontations as the ambitions of Mexico's leaders clashed with the territorial determination of Texan settlers.When the war broke in October 1835, the invading Mexicans, under the leadership of the flamboyant President-General Santa Ana, fully expected to crush a ...