Jean Stern, the art historian who serves as the executive director of the Irvine Museum, in Irvine, California, was recently given the Independent Publisher Book Award (IPPY) for his book Art of the National Parks: Historic Connections — Contemporary Interpretations.
The win comes right after Stern earned two lifetime achievement awards — one from PleinAir magazine, given to him at the Plein Air Convention & Expo, and another from the Plein-Air Painters of America. Stern’s book tied for First Place in the competition; Hopper Drawings, by the Whitney Museum, was awarded First Place in the National Fine Art category as well.
“Independent publishers are growing in number, and the quality of their work is increasing,” says IPPY awards director Jim Barnes. “One element driving the high rate of excellence is participation from university presses. This year, 29 medalists came from university presses and nine came from museums. Their elevated level of writing, editing, design, and production raises the bar and inspires us all.”
CORRECTION: The 2014 Independent Publisher Book Award Gold Medal was won by Fresco Fine Art Publications, LLC, for Art of the National Parks: Historic Connections — Contemporary Interpretations, in a tie with the Whitney Museum’s publication Hopper Drawings. Art of the National Parks was co-written by Susan Hallsten McGarry, Jean Stern, and Terry Lawson Dunn.
