Stark Foundation books receive national awards
Published 11:14 am Wednesday, December 13, 2017
To The Leader
The Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation proudly announces that two publications, Branding the American West: Paintings and Films, 1900-1950, edited by Sarah E. Boehme and Marian Wardle and The Long Shadow: The Lutcher-Stark Lumber Dynasty written by Ellen Rienstra and Joan Stiles, have received national awards this year.
Branding the American West: Paintings and Films, 1900-1950, co-edited by the Stark Museum of Art’s curator, Dr. Sarah Boehme, and printed by the University of Oklahoma Press has received three awards this year. This publication was a companion to the Branding the American West: Paintings and Films, 1900 – 1950 traveling exhibition that featured collections from both the Stark Museum of Art and Brigham Young Museum of Art. Between 2016 and 2017 exhibition was hosted at the Brigham Young Museum of Art in Provo, UT, the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, VA, and the Stark Museum of Art.
Initially Branding the American West won First Place in the Publication Design Competition of the Mountain Plains Museum Association. In September, the publication received an Award of Merit from the American Association for State and Local History (AASLH.) The AASLH Leadership in History Awards, now in its 72nd year, is the most prestigious recognition for achievement in the preservation and interpretation of state and local history. This past November the publication received the 2017 Paterson Kerr Award Book Award for the best-illustrated book on the history of the American West from the Western History Association. The Paterson Kerr Award Committee was extremely impressed with the originality of Branding the American West, its scope, and its significant contribution to the field of western history. Sarah Boehme, Stark Museum of Art curator, was able to attend all three-award presentations.
The Long Shadow: The Lutcher-Stark Lumber Dynasty, written by Ellen Walker Rienstra and Jo Ann Stiles, also received a 2017 AASLH Award. This publication is from The H.J Lutcher Stark Center for Physical Culture and Sports, The University of Texas at Austin and distributed by Tower Books, an Imprint of the University of Texas Press, The book is a culmination of many years’ research on the history of the illustrious Lutcher/Stark lumbering family of Southeast Texas. Described by co-author Ellen Rienstra, “The book serves as a chronicle of the Texas Lumber industry; a sizeable segment of the history of the University of Texas; an intriguing family saga; and a portrayal of the mores, customs, terrain, and clime of Southeast Texas, an intriguing family saga; and a portrayal of the mores, customs, terrain, and clime of Southeast Texas, an area unique to the rest of the state. This work represents the culmination of the first time the extensive archives of the Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Foundation have been made available to researchers.” Rienstra and co-author Stiles attended the Awards Banquet in Austin in September.
The Stark Foundation President and CEO Clyde V. McKee, III noted, “The Staff and Board are very pleased to have these publications that highlight the vision and legacy of the Founders, Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark, be well received locally, regionally, and nationally.”
Both Branding the American West and The Long Shadow are available for purchase at the Stark Museum of Art Tuesday – Saturday between 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. Please note the Museum will be closed for the holidays between December 24, 2017 and January 1, 2018.