by TRACY BONFITTO, CURATOR OF ART In 1937, WPA artist Elizabeth Olds (American, 1896–1991) persuaded “muckraking” investigative journalist Ida Tarbell to help her secure entrance to the Carnegie-Illinois steel mill. When Olds arrived with fellow artist Harry Gottlieb, skeptical mill workers required the artists to become union members in order… read more
children’s literature
Preparing Color Illustrations for Elizabeth Olds’s Deep Treasure (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1958)
by TRACY BONFITTO, CURATOR OF ART The exhibition Public Works: Art by Elizabeth Olds features original illustrations and preparation art that were used in the creation of Olds’s children’s books. These important process materials are on loan from the Kerlan Collection of Children’s Literature at the University of Minnesota.
Keep Austin Weird: McSweeney’s McMullens and everything else
The McSweeney’s archive, which the Ransom Center acquired in 2013, is now open for research. This is the final installment in a four-part series of blog posts highlighting items from this dynamic and diverse collection. It’s 2011. Venturing into children’s literature seems like a natural evolution for McSweeney’s. The line… read more