Jessica Mesman at the Christian Century wrote a review of Grave that you can check out here. She kindly calls it “a digestible history and literary tour of American funerary practices, but it’s not just that. It’s also a case for the dignity of the human person beyond death and a call to keep the dead in community with the living.”
I covered a new project at the National WWII Museum in New Orleans that is using AI to engage visitors with oral histories of veterans and others who served during the conflict. Read the story online and in print with the Art Newspaper.
On March 13, 2024, I’ll be joining Arnos Vale Cemetery in Bristol for an online talk about the grave’s transformation. Get tickets here!
This October, I joined the Thinking Allowed radio program from the BBC to talk about the history of the grave. Give it a listen as part of a fascinating lineup that also includes a conversation about memorial benches!
I contributed four essays to the beautiful new Brooklyn Arcadia: Art, History, and Nature at Majestic Green-Wood book published by Rizzoli. It features Andrew Garn’s photographs of Green-Wood Cemetery across the seasons. Pick up a copy now! I also joined Andrew for a radio interview timed with the book on WNYC’s All Of It program.
I created a reading list for JSTOR Daily on the care of the dead and how it has changed over time. All of the JSTOR Daily lists allow free access to the linked research so check it out!
For the Art Newspaper, I wrote a story exploring the role of museums in video games and what museums can learn from video games. Read it here!
On October 18 at the Brooklyn Brainery, I’m bringing back my cemetery symbolism class for the autumn season! Come learn about the meaning behind tombstone symbols in New York City and beyond. Sign up here.
This October I’ll be leading two tours at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn with Morbid Anatomy. One will be on October 7 and themed on the language of flowers as seen through cemetery symbolism and the other will be on October 21, exploring memento mori symbolism.
On September 17 from 11 AM – 1 PM, I’ll be at the beautiful historic Congressional Cemetery in Washington, DC, for a free Grave book event and tour of the grounds. RSVP here!
I was on the ABC Radio Australia Late Night Live program to talk about American graves. Listen here!
On September 13 at Housing Works Bookstore in Manhattan, I’m joining the Municipal Art Society + Housing Works author series for a conversation about graves and NYC with fellow arts writer and cemetery tour guide Tiernan Morgan. You can even browse books while you listen! RSVP free here.
For the summer issue of ArtDesk I enjoyed interviewing the artist Brian Wall who at 91 is still innovating with his monumental, abstract sculptures. You can read the piece online and in print!
“As an artist, you always feel that you should push the limits of what you’re doing,” Wall says. “You still want to know and see what’s possible. I love the risk. I love the idea of doing something, and I’m just going to the edge, and so what if it’s a total failure? You learn from that and move on.”
My NYC Microseasons creative collaborator Erin Chapman and I joined the Fields podcast to talk about noticing changes in nature in the city. Is every season now a micro season? Is eating a few mulberries from a city tree good or bad? Listen to find out!
On Tuesdays this August, I’ll be leading an “Introduction to Taphophilia” online class with Morbid Anatomy. We will be covering topics like the traditions of respectful cemetery recreation, how to understand tombstone symbolism, and ways to share cemeteries through things like walking tours and zine making. More details here!
I’m excited to announce an upcoming talk with Magic City Books in Tulsa on “The History of Graves” including stories from my Grave book. It will be held on September 24 at 2pm. Hope to see many Okies there!
I shared some of my thoughts on Brutalist architecture in New York City and building preservation with Blue Crow Media, which published the Concrete New York map that I edited. Check out the Q&A on their site! The map is available on its own or in a New York Maps Set that also includes two other maps I edited: Great Trees of New York and Art Deco New York.
I’m thrilled to be joining the lineup for this summer’s Science of Things Spiritual Symposium in Lily Dale, New York. The Spiritualist community is a fascinating place to visit, where mediums practice in the houses and people join in gatherings each day to connect with something beyond the veil. I’ll be talking about my new book Grave with some details on the connections between Spiritualism and cemeteries. It’s all happening July 27 to 29, check out the full lineup of happenings here.
Miranda Melcher with the New Books Network podcast had me on for an interview related to my book Grave. Listen here for our conversation about how we care for the dead, how we could do better, and why cemeteries are fascinating places to investigate.
I contributed a feature story on the self-taught artist Morris Hirshfield to the spring 2023 issue of Raw Vision magazine. Born in 1872, Hirshfield did not start painting until the age of 65 after a career in the New York City garment industry:
At first, Hirshfield stuck with carving and made a large prayer-stand for the local synagogue, adorned with lions, birds and decorative designs accented in gold. However, after turning his bedroom into a studio, he took an existing painting off the wall to use as a canvas. His first finished work –Beach Girl – obscured the original painting except for the woman’s face; the rest was consumed by dense patterns of blue feathery clouds and an ocean that coiled like steel wool.
Read the full story in print, with the issue also including my reviews of the film For Your Peace of Mind, Make Your Own Museum and a new book on the Painters of the Sacred Heart.