Book Club

Join the Library & Archives staff in Stout Reference Library for this summer’s series of art-related book club picks. A limited number of used copies of each book are available while supplies last. Please email library@discovernewfields.org.to request a copy. Light snacks and beverages will be provided.

Schedule

Thursday, June 25 | Wild Thing: a life of Paul Gauguin (2025, Sue Prideaux)

Wear your best Breton striped shirt and join Interim Library Director Anastasia Karel as she leads a discussion of this new biography on Paul Gauguin. Rated one of the best books of 2025 by the New York Times, it tells the story of Gauguin’s life with new information that dispels many of the historical myths about him. Special guest Kenneth Brummel, Curator of European Art, will be on hand to share his knowledge of Gauguin and the works in our collection.

Thursday, July 23 | The Grave Robber by Tim Carpenter

Join Librarian Marina Ito as we unravel The Grave Robber by Tim Carpenter, former head of the FBI’s Art Crime Team. Beginning in a rural town in Indiana and stretching across continents, this extraordinary true story uncovers the impact of one man’s theft of countless cultural artifacts and ancestral human remains and the complex efforts to return them to their rightful communities. We will be joined by Jennifer Rigsby, Registrar for Permanent Collection, who will share her insights on repatriations under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA).

Thursday, August 20 | Betsy Ross and the Making of America (2010, Marla Miller)

As we celebrate America’s 250^th birthday, who better to read about than the maker of the nation’s first flag. But as readers will discover, the story of Betsy Ross is much more than a flag. Join Interim Library Director Anastasia Karel in discussion of a book that was the first scholarly endeavor about Ross, and one that puts her in context of the many women who worked to support the Revolutionary War.