b'I N TRODUCT ION D EFIANT VISION: PRINTS & POETRY BY MUNIO MAKUUCHItakes as its subject the multitalented and often mercurial artist Munio Makuuchi (born Howard Takahashi, 19342000). This volume, the first published scholarship on this largely unrecognized American artist, places him within his social, historical, artistic, and literary context. An artists legacy is a tricky matter: most visual artists create tangible physical objects that circulate among the art-interested public and that outlive them. However, not all artists are equally remembered. As pointed out by sociologists Gladys Engel Lang and Kurt Lang in their 1990 critical study Etched in Memory: The Building and Survival of Artistic Reputation, the factors that influence artists recognition during (and after) their lifetimes are myriad. These include when and where they lived (and died), the circumstances of their professional lives, and the prevailing artistic tastes (and markets) of their era. Munio Makuuchi was not blessed by factors of history. The racism he experi-enced because of his ethnic heritage, his choice of black-and-white figurative printmaking as his primary means of expression, his relatively small production, his checkered employment history and time spent teaching outside the United States, and his late, and prolific, devotion to writing poetry all contributed to his lack of recognition during his lifetime. However, he was fortunate to have a son, Jamie, and friends, Andrew and Renee Balkin, who were clearly committed to preserving his legacy as an artist. This volume is, in a sense, a documented reclamation of Makuuchis artistic contributions, both visual and literary, as well as an exploration of the factors that influenced his choices and the forms of his artistic expression. Smith College is well positioned to be the driver of this project, as an academic institution committed to furthering the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Caribou Crossing Northern RainbowCHECKLIST #48 This exhibition and catalogue have emerged from over a decade of investigation 7'