Confessions Of A Working Class Artist [PRE-ORDER October]

NOT YET AVAILABLE. Pre-order now. This title is scheduled to arrive on October 2026.

Note: release dates and prices are tentative and subject to change at the publisher's whim.

When pre-ordering with multiple items, remember your order will not ship until the last pre-ordered item is in stock. If you want items to ship separately, place separate orders.

“Do we transcend class in the afterlife? Or is it the same old hierarchical bullshit of who gets to sit on the fluffiest clouds closest to god?”

"The realities of socio-economic class in relation to art are rarely addressed, yet those realities undergird the structure, access, and lack of access, to living a creative life in the visual arts. I come from a working-class background. No one in my family had ever attended college and, as far as I know, ever went to a museum or gallery. As a teenager I came to art through my own curiosity and need to escape. Naively, like most young artists, I imagined a life of unrestricted freedom of expression. What I could not have foreseen were the hurdles and closed doors facing artists without money, social capital, or the right education."

Written in an episodic style, mixing personal anecdotes of shame and revelation, socio-political observations, and stories from fellow working class artists, Confessions is not a sociological study nor manifesto; It is an attempt to confront how class forms us and continues to inform the career choices (or lack) and the art we make (or don’t make). 

The book acknowledges the burdens and challenges facing poor and working-class creatives, who although lacking privilege and resources, have found the fortitude to create a way forward. 

Illustrated with over 30 images from Frédéric Bazille, Jules Breton, Gustav Caillebotte, Maya Deren, Duccio, Lewis Hine, Dorothea Lange, Jacob Lawrence, Alexander Rodchenko, Mierle Laderman Ukeles, and the author.

Author: Mark Alice Durant
Publisher: St. Lucy Books
Page Count: 192pp
Size: 6.25 x 8.25
Notes: hardcover, signed by author
Release Date: October 2026