Critical Grooves Book Lab

November 14, 2024, 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm
Listed In: Talks and Screenings

Select Thursdays, 6:30-8 PM, Free

  • September 12: On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
  • October 10: Palace of the Peacock by Wilson Harris
  • November 14: The Autobiography of my Mother by Jamaica Kincaid
  • December 12: Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler

Plains Art Museum’s announces its sixth iteration of Critical Grooves Book Lab. Ages 16+ are welcomed, FREE.

For our sixth (6th) session (Fall–Winter ’24), we will read four lesser-known writers who will productively intersect with the museum’s scheduled exhibitions during Fall – Winter 2024. We begin with Ocean Vuong’s award-winning novel, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, to intersect with the Thomas-Suwall collection on exhibition in Full Disclosure. From there, we move on to Wilson Harris’s Palace of the Peacock to discuss aspects of the novel’s convergence with A Little Grey for Color. Then, Jamaica Kincaid’s The Autobiography of My Mother provides important context for a robust discussion of several past and upcoming exhibitions in our Starion Gallery. Finally, Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower (a speculative fiction novel set in 2024) captures the perils of climate change, the disparities within human rights, and the struggle for sovereignty—issues found in the upcoming exhibition, Water Talks.

If this assemblage of lesser-known writers sounds compelling, then please join us at Plains Art Museum on the select dates below. We offer an array of hot teas and hot chocolate. However, feel free to bring your own beverages/snacks, as well.

To encourage broad participation, you may acquire the selected texts through convenient means, as per your situation. Also note: Critical Grooves Book Lab selections will also be available for purchase from The Store at Plains Art Museum.

For more information and/or participation contact Dr. Kelvin Monroe kmonroe@plainsart.org.


Events Calendar

December 2016

Other Exhibitions

Murray Lemley

July 05, 2025 - January 04, 2026
Fifty Years of Photography and Design

Fifty Years of Photography and Design is a retrospective exhibition celebrating Murray Lemley’s artistic career.

View Exhibition

Floating Beauty

June 07, 2025 - September 28, 2025
Women in the Art of Ukiyo-e

Floating Beauty examines historical perspectives on women and their depiction in art in Edo Period Japan (1615–1858). Made up entirely of woodblock prints created in the ukiyo-e style.

View Exhibition

Rimer Cardillo

August 23, 2025 - February 08, 2026
Deep Ecologies / Sacred Natures / Temporal Geographies 

For more than five decades, Rimer Cardillo’s artwork has offered a powerful commentary on the intersection of politics, economics, and ecological degradation. Since the late 1970s, his practice has focused on the devastating impacts of human activity on the natural world, particularly the alarming decline in animal species and plant life.

View Exhibition