MAM launches book club, lecture series

The Missoula Art Museum may be one of the destinations in Montana to bring your kids or guests, but the museum also offers adult programs for the Missoula community that link art, literature and the important cultural topics of our time.

This year, MAM is featuring several events as part of its Voices in Contemporary Art book club and lecture series.

On June 20, MAM will welcome renowned writer, activist and art critic Lucy Lippard, who will discuss her newest book, “Undermining: A Wild Ride through Land Use, Politics, and Art in the Changing West.”

In a recent review, Publisher’s Weekly proclaimed that, “This singular book will stir the 'creative energies' of veteran Lippard fans and environmentalists as well as a new generation of artist-activists.”

The lecture will be held at 7 PM at the Public House at 130 East Broadway.

Those who are familiar with Lippard or who would like to become more immersed in her work are invited to join the free MAM Book Club meeting on June 14 at 6 p.m. Those who RSVP will receive a 10 percent discount on the book.

Artist and Adventure Cycling Tour Specialist Whitney Ford-Terry, whose work is now being exhibited in the Missoula Art Park, will lead an informative discussion on Lippard’s new book, available in MAM’s bookstore or as a reference copy in the MAM Library.

On July 19, local author Gayle Morrison will also lead a discussion at MAM about her book, “Hog’s Exit: Jerry Daniels, the Hmong, and the CIA.”

The book follows the captivating true story of the late Jerry Daniels, the Missoula smokejumper and CIA field operative who organized the air evacuation of Hmong General Vang Pao and more than 2,000 of his officers and their families to Thailand, and later facilitated the resettlement of more than 50,000 Hmong in Missoula and worldwide.

This book club conversation coincides with the exhibition of embroidered works opening July 7, From Flower Cloth to Story Cloth: Hmong Textiles in the MAM Collection.

Later this summer, in time for the text-based exhibition by local artist Elizabeth Dove, MAM will present a book club discussion on August 23 for “Writing on the Wall: Word and Image in Modern Art,” by Simon Morley.

This book asserts that words and language are one of the defining features of modern art.

Call 406.728.0447 for more details.