THE MIDWEST INITIATIVE
This series of books and exhibitions from Hat & Beard Press are culled from the dusty basement archives of museums in the Midwest; personal collections gathering dust in someone’s attic; and storage files from long-gone galleries of yesteryear. Upcoming titles include the second monograph by Cody Hudson, the first monograph by Japanese-American photographer Jun Fujita, the illustrated history of the Dil Pickle Club; and the first definitive study of architect Paul Schweikher.
More information can be found about these titles at: www.hatandbeard.com
The United States is the most incarcerating nation in the world. Over two million people are locked behind bars, where they endure the degradation and violence of a dehumanizing system. But in prisons around the country, incarcerated people have regained their dignity by creating objects of beauty, meaning, and value….MORE
Poet, artist, and photographer, Jun Fujita was born in a village near Hiroshima and immigrated to Canada as a teenager. By 1915, he was in Chicago, where he worked for the Evening Post until 1929, photographing disasters…MORE
Paul Schweikher was born in Denver, Colorado, in 1903 to a family of musicians. He originally trained at the University of Colorado for a year (1921–22) before marrying his wife. He moved with her to Chicago, Illinois, and studied at the Art Institute of Chicago while working…MORE
Inside prisons across the U.S., incarcerated people struggle everyday for their basic rights, claiming again and again their status as human beings…MORE
Cody Hudson is a Chicago based artist, also known for his graphic design contributions under the name Struggle Inc. Known for the production of clean, multi-dimensional graphics, Cody's design aesthetic is part urban modernism, and part…MORE
Dil Pickle Club, also spelled Dill Pickle Club, was a bohemian club, cabaret, and speakeasy (in the mid-20s) in Chicago that operated from about 1914 to about 1933 (though sources vary). Its patrons included hoboes, prostitutes, and gangsters as well as leading scholars, literary figures…MORE
Henry's Legacy: Art Making at Thresholds South is an upcoming book being produced in collaboration with Invisible Republic as part of an initiative designed to spotlight talent from Chicago. TBS: Artists Project celebrates artists living with mental health conditions and their powerful works of art. The project is a platform for the the artists of Thresholds Bridge South’s Open Studio program. The book will be a companion to “Artists First: 25 Years of Studio Art at Thresholds,”…MORE