Drumlummon Institute

06/10/2024

MUMBLECUSSER, by Allen Morris Jones, published last year by drumlummon institute, just won the HIgh Plains Book Award!!

21/05/2024

Drumlummon Institute is proud to announce a new book, written by our founder, Rick Newby!

For release upon receipt. Contact: Aaron Parrett, [email protected]; Rick Newby, [email protected]

Drumlummon Institute Publishes Rick Newby’s Essays on Montana Writers and Artists

Published by Drumlummon Institute of Helena, Montana, A Regionalism That Travels: Writings on (Mostly) Montana Arts, 1975-2022, gathers together essays, talks, and reviews by Rick Newby, one of Montana’s leading writers, editors, and publishers. These writings focus on Big Sky Country’s writers and visual artists and the state’s cultural history, especially the state’s vibrant literary tradition, its remarkable and sophisticated ceramics community, and the rise of modernism in all the arts.
Margaret Kingsland, former director of Humanities Montana, asserts: “If you want to understand the creative artists of today's Montana, read this book!”
Ken Egan, author of Hope and Dread in Montana Literature, notes: “[Rick Newby] uncovers shadow traditions that defy stereotypes about the American West. Whether it’s an irreverent surrealist movement, or a gifted poet living on an isolated ranch, or a Chinese American ceramics artist, or a painter combining Modernism with immersion in his home place, Newby asks us to pay attention to makers who live out cosmopolitan regionalism. . . . I for one would not want to live in a place without the insights and eccentrics of Rick Newby’s wonderful book.”
Montana’s foremost art critic Gordon McConnell writes: “For the past forty years, Rick Newby's perceptive and scrupulously researched writings on the cultural history, art and literature of Montana have guided my reading, informed my thinking and fortified me in my own advocacy for the most progressive and ‘well traveled’ contemporary artists of the region. His writings are lyrical, elegant, deeply insightful and suffused with a constructive and benevolent spirit. The cultural terrain he has examined is vast, and we know it better for his untiring attention.”
Rick writes regularly about modern and contemporary art, and his essays on ceramic artists, painters, sculptors, and photographers have appeared in national and international journals and in numerous exhibition catalogs. Most recently, Rick Newby is principal author of Theodore Waddell – My Montana: Paintings & Sculpture, 1959–2016, which received the High Plains Book Award, Art/Photography, 2018. His other credits include Writing Montana: Literature under the Big Sky, edited with Suzanne Hunger; The New Montana Story: An Anthology; and The Most Difficult Journey: The Poindexter Collections of American Modernist Painting (with Ben Mitchell and Andrea Pappas). In 2009, Rick received the Montana Governor’s Award for the Humanities, and in 2016, he received the Montana Governor’s Award for the Arts.
(For more about the author, visit https://ricknewbywritereditor.com/)

A Regionalism That Travels
Writings on (Mostly) Montana Arts, 1975-2022
by Rick Newby
Drumlummon Institute, Helena, MT,
in association with Bar R Books
Softcover, 480 pages
Essays, $35
ISBN-13: ‎979-8218405090

23/02/2024

We are very excited to promote a kickstarter on behalf of our founder, Rick Newby. Drumlummon Institute is publishing a curated collection of his essays on art and literature in the West, called A Regionalism that Travels. Follow the link to pre-order your copy today!

Drumlummon Institute Presents A Regionalism That Travels: Writings on (Mostly) Montana Arts, 1975-2022

04/10/2023

PRESS RELEASE FROM DRUMLUMMON Drumlummon Institute
Montana novelist, editor, and poet Allen Morris Jones will be offering a rare reading from his work on Wednesday, October 11 at the Myrna Loy Theater at 7 PM. Refreshments available at the bar.

The author of three novels, including the Montana Book Award honor book A Bloom of Bones, a highly regarded consideration of the ethics of hunting (A Quiet Place of Violence), a Spur Award winning children’s book, and numerous stories, articles, and essays, Jones will be reading principally from his newest work, a collection of poetry published by Helena’s own literary nonprofit, the Drumlummon Institute.

“Mumblecusser has been in the works for the last twenty years or so,” Jones said, referring to the collection. “The oldest poems were written in my early thirties. The most recent was finalized just a few months before publication.”

About this collection, poet Michael Earl Craig said, “In these pages a boy has turned into a young man who’s turned into a father on his way toward dust. These poems make you stop and think at every turn—carefully built and a joy to read.” And poet Mark Gibbons said, “From his family to the stars, from the cacophony of humanity to the quietude of water, Jones looks keenly, feels deeply, and renders his observations in smart, humorous, and heartfelt poems that celebrate this life in this place at this time.”

“More than anything else,” Jones said, “I want people to be entertained by the work. And maybe after they’re amused, if they care to peel back a layer or two, hopefully they’ll find some depth there as well. But first, entertainment.”

Jones made it a point to mention that the cover art was provided by Helena-area artist Dale Livezey. “I love it that the first reading for this book is in Helena, hometown of both Drumlummon and Dale Livezey. It’s been an honor to work on this project with them. I can’t imagine a more talented set of collaborators.”

07/04/2023

Lots of churches.