Greetings from New Orleans,

I am writing to update you on the progress of the book and the exhibition as well.

First let me apologize for the delay in the book...but it is for good reason.  When I first started this project I thought it would move at a very fast pace and that we would have the book in hand by the beginning of this year....that is obviously not the case.

The delay has really come from my choice to add more voices to the book, more contributors, more thought leaders who can add more perspective to the conversation we are aiming to foster.  

And since these are very busy folks who are journalists for The New York Times, authors in their own right, activists and even a United States Senator...I have had to swallow my patience pill and continue to slowly move the process along.  I firmly believe that waiting for these very important voices to add to the book is the right move.

So as you can see from the list below we have added a few names to the contributor list and I am gathering the last few essays and then we will move into the design and layout phase of the project.  And then I will have a much better idea of when we have the books in hand.

Walter Isaacson is writing the introduction for the book and the other thought leaders who are joining him in writing for the book are:

Gabby Giffords and Mark Kelly, Maria Cuomo Cole, New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, Dan Gross of The Brady Campaign, Joe Nocera of The New York Time,s Michael Waldman of the Brennan Center for Justice, Author John Barry, Lucia McBath mother of Jordan Davis, Rapper Lupe Fiasco, Poet E. Ethelbert Miller, Lolis Eric Elie, International Curator Dan Cameron, Trymaine Lee of The New York, Times Senator Tim Kaine, Harry Shearer, Ace Atkins, Gregg Hurwitz, Robert Crais and  Steve Clemons of The Atlantic.

Thank you again for you continued patience..All good things take time!

UPDATE on the Exhibition

As you know, the project opened in the fall of 2014 at my gallery here in New Orleans for Prospect Biennial and traveled to Aspen Ideas Festival this summer and then to Washington University in St. Louis where it was presented by The Institute of Public Health, The Brown School of Social Work and the Sam Fox School of Art.  In December, it was presented at Art Basel Miami Beach as a special exhibition at Miami Project at The Deauville Beach Resort.. This spring it will travel to Minneapolis and then Chicago and in late September it will be presented in three parts in Washington DC…at the Rotunda of the Russell Senate Building (sponsored by Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia), the Headquarters of the New America Foundation and I am working on it being presented at the Washington Ideas Forum (put on by The Atlantic and The Aspen Institute). In the Spring of 2017, it will be exhibited at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft.

All this is great news as the project travels and  continues to have an impact on this important conversation.

To read more news on the exhibition...please visit the link below and stay tuned for more soon

http://jonathanferraragallery.blogspot.com/search/label/Guns%20in%20the%20Hands%20of%20Artists

Creatively and Gratefully,

Jonathan Ferrara

It’s here! I’m pleased to release the official cover of Welcome to Deadland! I hope you all love it and can’t wait for you to be able to hold it in your hands and dive into it’s pages! I’d like to thank David Drummond for his design work, the awesome folks over at Nerdist, Inkshares, and Girl Friday for their help and input reaching this monumental step! This was a great group effort! 

Thank you all for your support! Only a few more months to go!

-Zac

Magic. Jerimiah has always has been told such a thing don’t exist in the real world and to leave that for his video games. He knew he should listen and accept that as truth. However, on his 8th birthday something dreadful happens that changes everything.

Four years later, destiny reunites Jeremiah to where it all began, the house of his grandfather Victorio. Now nightmares that used to plague his dreams return to haunt him once again; two cloaked figures arguing with his grandfather in their backyard, and attacked him in ways he could only explain as magical.

Suddenly, strange and unexplainable things begin to happen at the house. Things that will make Jerimiah question everything he knew about his family and the world itself.

Hey guys and gals!  So I decided to try my hand at pre-orders. My friends and co workers have been asking when I would start the process, so I decided to stop hesitating.  Pre-Orders are now live.  Though work will continue to be busy with spring break in it’s final stretch, I hope to add more edited chapters posted as orders progress.  Please take a peek and consider purchasing a book!

~S.J. Petersen.