This major new book with essays by prominent scholars presents the austere and simply styled objects of the Shakers in context of their faith and community at Mt. Lebanon, N.Y., the spiritual centre of the Shaker world. Outstanding examples of furniture, textiles, tools, machinery, books, drawings, ephemera and other objects, as well as historic images and new photography of the rooms and landscapes of various Shaker sites, bring the rich world of the Shakers to life. The materials were drawn primarily from the collection of the Shaker Museum and Library, Mt. Lebanon, the largest, broadest and deepest collection of Shaker material in the world. For 160 years, from 1787 to 1947, the Shakers at Mt. Lebanon led the largest and most successful utopian communal society in America. From this central community developed the Shakers' ideals of equality of labour, gender, and race, as well as communal property, freedom, and pacifism. While the book provides a rich historical overview as seen through objects made and used at Mt. Lebanon, it also includes a section on the last active Shaker community, at Sabbathday Lake, Maine. The catalogue's select plates of Shaker objects and sensuous interior shots will be accompanied by an exhibition checklist, bibliography, and index.

Perhaps best known for his iconic paintings and sculptures of LOVE, also featured on a U.S. postage stamp, and HOPE, created in support of Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign, Robert Indiana (b. 1928) has been living and working in Maine since 1978. The Star of Hope, his year-round home and studio on the island of Vinalhaven, is a former late 19th-century Odd Fellows lodge listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Robert Indiana and the Star of Hope is both a retrospective of the artist's work based on his own holdings, and an unprecedented study of his living and working space. His studio is a home, museum, archive, and gallery, all set within the historic interiors of the former Odd Fellows lodge. This book offers a unique examination of how Indiana's work has unfolded since his move to Vinalhaven and includes works from his student days to storied sculptures such as EAT, prematurely removed from the 1964 New York World's Fair and not exhibited since. Distributed for the Farnsworth Art Museum Exhibition Schedule: Farnsworth Art Museum, Rockland, Maine (6/20/09 - 10/25/09)

In September 2015, Junipero Serra was canonized by Pope Francis in Washington DC against the protest of many Californian Native Americans who criticized his brutal treatment of their ancestors and destruction of their culture. Like most complex historical figures, Junipero Serra has been interpreted in countless ways, often contextualized mainly in California. This book situates Serra in the context of the three major places that he lived, learned, and proselytized: Mallorca, Mexico, and Alta California and uses scholars from all three countries to create a rare glimpse into the life of the saint in three cultural dimensions. Essays on his use of music and art, and his representation in popular culture chart the life and impact of Serra, his education, and ideology, Franciscan influence, the plans and building of the missions, Native people and other important topics revolving around his life and history of Serra and the Catholic church in Mexico and California.