Through their fine art publishing program, Paulson Fontaine Press reaches new audiences for African American artists across the country. Artists include Samuel Levi Jones, known for compositions created from deconstructed institutional texts; Bay Area artist Lava Thomas, whose multidisciplinary practice considers themes of social justice, female subjectivity, current events, and the shifting tides of history; and Edgar Arceneaux, a Los Angeles native who has been a pivotal leader of the Watts House Project, an effort to revitalize the Watts community through art.

About the importance of this focus at the press, Rhea Fontaine states: “People like William Arnett, who supported the Gee’s Bend Quilters, and Lowery Stokes Sims, whose pioneering work at the Metropolitan Museum and the Studio Museum in Harlem introduced so many minority artists to larger audiences — these are the people who are taking risks that others aren’t willing to take, saying things that other people aren’t willing to say, seeing things that other people are not seeing. We’ve always tried to connect ourselves with that type of visionary. Because of them, a handful of these really talented artists have become known to us and the world at large.” Learn more about Paulson Fontaine Press.