Our speaker will be J. Craig Thorpe, noted railroad artist and author of Railroads, Art and American Life: An Artist’s Memoir (Indiana University Press, 2023).

Over the course of Thorpe’s career he has worked for architects and landscape architects. For the last thirty years he has specialized in railway promotional art and illustration. Following the outline of the book, this presentation overviews Thorpe’s personal journey. It traces the development of his ideas and art commissioned by clients such as Amtrak and the White Pass & Yukon Route and other railways, rail suppliers, planners, museums and private collectors. Reprising elements of classic rail art, this body of work invites viewers to reconsider railroading and its connection to the broader culture. Says Thorpe, “If we really saw how railways could enrich the common good, we would not just call them ‘nostalgic,’ we would call them ‘essential’...and art brings this to life.”

Please note that this meeting will begin at 10:00AM, due to availability of the library.