Art at the Crossroads

Underscores the striking richness of art stories about the Texas Panhandle—a strange and wondrous place, where old and new, tradition and innovation are constantly in productive tension. This book features four comprehensive narratives of artists working in the region. It also revisits familiar lore but with fresh and newly historical eyes. Art at the Crossroads: The Surprising Aesthetics of the Texas Panhandle underscores the striking richness of art stories about the Texas Panhandle—a strange and wondrous place, where old and new, tradition and innovation are constantly in productive tension. East meets West; Midwest meets Southwest; cars and trains and planes have long connected the area to the rest of the nation. The art of the Texas Panhandle forms a networked centerpiece of American creativity, a distinct artistic crossroads. This book features four comprehensive narratives of artists working in the region, such as the first art historical study on Frank Lloyd Wright's Sterling Kinney House in Amarillo and the hidden but foundational aesthetics of aviation in the Panhandle. It also revisits familiar lore but with fresh and newly historical eyes, including archival dives into the concept of decay at the very heart of Amarillo-area art and the famous case of the Georgia O'Keeffe fakes found in a Canyon, Texas, garage. As a transplant to the Panhandle, the author learned these stories from scratch and can attest firsthand that the region's artistic output had stories that appeal to art lovers anywhere. They bear witness not only to rural life but also to the Panhandle's raw and sublime landscapes and its diverse population of artists and patrons who created a thriving art scene.