edited by Elliot A. Knight
contributions by Joey Brackner, Jessica Dallow, Kristin Davis, William U. Eiland, Sarah Faulkner, Kate C. Fisher, Dennis Harper, Al Head, Megan Hicks, Vicki L. Ingham, Jennifer Jankauskas, Lynn Barstis Williams Katz, Anne Kimzey, Elliot A. Knight, Marilyn Laufer, Dana-Marie Lemmer, Noah Purifoy Foundation, Michael W. Panhorst, Ron Platt, Barbara Reed, Paul W. Richelson, Frances Osborn Robb, Susan C. Robertson, Theodore Rosengarten, Stephanie Timberlake, Deborah Velders, Emily White, Valerie L. White, Cathy Criss Adams, Gail C. Andrews, Margaret Lynne Ausfeld, Peter J. Baldaia, Graham C. Boettcher and Alea Bondarenko
preface by Al Head
introduction by Gail C. Andrews
University of Alabama Press, 2019
eISBN: 978-0-8173-9223-9 | Cloth: 978-0-8173-2010-2
Library of Congress Classification N6530.A2A43 2019
Dewey Decimal Classification 700.9761

ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC
ABOUT THIS BOOK
A visually rich survey of two hundred years of Alabama fine arts and artists
 
Alabama artists have been an integral part of the story of the state, reflecting a wide-ranging and multihued sense of place through images of the land and its people. Quilts, pottery, visionary paintings, sculpture, photography, folk art, and abstract art have all contributed to diverse visions of Alabama’s culture and environment. The works of art included in this volume have all emerged from a distinctive milieu that has nourished the creation of powerful visual expressions, statements that are both universal and indigenous.
 
Published to coincide with the state’s bicentennial, Alabama Creates:  200 Years of Art and Artists features ninety-four of Alabama’s most accomplished, noteworthy, and influential practitioners of the fine arts from 1819 to the present. The book highlights a broad spectrum of artists who worked in the state, from its early days to its current and contemporary scene, exhibiting the full scope and breadth of Alabama art.
 
This retrospective volume features biographical sketches and representative examples of each artist’s most masterful works.  Alabamians like Gay Burke, William Christenberry, Roger Brown, Thornton Dial, Frank Fleming, the Gee’s Bend Quilters, Lonnie Holley, Dale Kennington, Charlie Lucas, Kerry James Marshall, David Parrish, and Bill Traylor are compared and considered with other nationally significant artists.
 
Alabama Creates is divided into four historical periods, each spanning roughly fifty years and introduced by editor Elliot A. Knight. Knight contextualizes each era with information about the development of Alabama art museums and institutions and the evolution of college and university art departments. The book also contains an overview of the state’s artistic heritage by Gail C. Andrews, director emerita of the Birmingham Museum of Art. Alabama Creates conveys in a sweeping and captivating way the depth of talent, the range of creativity, and the lasting contributions these artists have made to Alabama’s extraordinarily rich visual and artistic heritage.