Allison C. Meier
@allisoncmeier.bsky.social
Writer on art, culture, history & other wonders. Editor at Fine Books & Collections. NYC-based, Oklahoma born. 'Grave' book is out now from Bloomsbury! (she/her)
So exciting to receive copies of my forthcoming @3313books.bsky.social book on Woody Guthrie's 'Dust Bowl Ballads'! I think this 1940 album on ecological collapse; police brutality; mistreatment of migrants; & making art despite it all is as timely as ever www.bloomsbury.com/us/woody-gut...
If you want to learn where cemetery symbols came from, what they mean, and why some are spookier than others, I'm reviving my Speak with the Dead online class this August with @morbidanatomy.bsky.social www.morbidanatomy.org/classes/p/sp...
Speak with the Dead: Understanding Cemetery Symbolism with Cemetery Expert Allison C. Meier, Begins August 2 — Morbid Anatomy
Four week class taught online via Zoom Sundays, August 2 -23, 2026 6:00 - 8:00pm ET (NYC time) $125 Paid Patreon Members / $145 General Admission Classes will be recorded and archived for s...
morbidanatomy.org
Designed by the American Modernist architect Herb Greene, the Prairie House in Oklahoma is the subject of a new preservation campaign. buff.ly/mp1xNiM
I'll be talking cemeteries, trains, trolleys, and more at this happening tonight in Queens. Free to stop by, have a drink, enjoy!
Colin Dickey@colindickey.com · 2w agoHey New York! If you're looking for something to do that is *not* World Cup related today, come see @allisoncmeier.bsky.social out in Ridgewood! Tonight at 5:00 at the Flying Fox, Allison will be talking about how death shaped NYC's public transit! I'll be talking about how vampires got horny!
I visited NYC's oldest library to see what's new after their latest revamp. It was full of writers writing when I stopped by!
New York City’s oldest library refreshes its historic home
The 272-year-old New York Society Library’s patrons have included the likes of George Washington and Alexander Hamilton
theartnewspaper.com
New book alert celebrating my home and the great city of New York!! I authored ‘An Opinionated Guide to New York Architecture’ for the fantastic Hoxton Mini Press, with write ups on over 70 sites I think represent the diverse history of local design. Available now in the UK & for preorder in the US
An Opinionated Guide to New York Architecture
An Opinionated Guide to New York Architecture – Your refreshingly opinionated guide to the best buildings in The Big Apple. By Allison C. Meier, from Hoxton Mini Press.
hoxtonminipress.com
This year's list of America's Most Endangered Places highlights those threatened by federal erasure of history and the opening of public lands to oil
Stonewall monument targeted by Trump administration among the US’s most endangered historic places
The latest edition of the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s annual list spotlights federal erasure and rollbacks to public land conservation
theartnewspaper.com
Rescheduling this to June 13 due to the rainy forecast! (And my catching the terrible cold going around NYC.) Hoping for bluer skies ahead.
Allison C. Meier@allisoncmeier.bsky.social · 3mo agoI'm trying out something new this Saturday with a walk on the hidden muses of NYC sculpture, coinciding with the recent release of the Women's History of NY map I authored. Stop by! I'll have maps on hand, too www.eventbrite.com/e/hidden-mus...
I'm trying out something new this Saturday with a walk on the hidden muses of NYC sculpture, coinciding with the recent release of the Women's History of NY map I authored. Stop by! I'll have maps on hand, too www.eventbrite.com/e/hidden-mus...
Hidden Muses of New York Sculpture Walk
Recover the histories of the women who modeled for NYC's public art
eventbrite.com
Emerging from winter hibernating and back to the events. I have an online talk with @morbidanatomy.bsky.social tonight on the art of the dance of death! Seems timely to talk about how we return to this image of mortality in times of crisis www.morbidanatomy.org/events-ticke...
Online Talk · The Art of the Dance of Death with Writer & Researcher Allison C. Meier — Morbid Anatomy
7pm ET (NYC time) Monday, April 20, 2026 PLEASE NOTE: A link to a recording of this talk will be sent out to ticket holders after its conclusion. It will also be archived for our Patreon members. Become a Member HERE. Ticketholders: A Zoom invite is sent out two hours before th
morbidanatomy.org
Tell me your well loved book tales! I’m collecting options for our reader comments in the winter issue.
Fine Books & Collections@finebooks.bsky.social · 9mo agoWhat is a well-worn book in your collection that may not be in the best condition but that you prize, and why?
Some new reporting on the oldest cave art in North America, climate change & a community that doesn't want to return a human made lake to its natural state because it irrigates a golf course www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/10/31/p...
Protecting North America’s oldest cave art after an historic flood raised new alarms
Dunbar Cave, home of numerous petroglyphs and pictographs dating back at least 800 years, was submerged by a flood in February—the art was fortunately undamaged, but how can we save it from inevitable...
theartnewspaper.com
If you want to read all about why cemetery ledgers matter, the people keeping metal type making alive, the joys of collecting well-worn books, medieval fragmentology & much more, pick up the fall issue of @finebooks.bsky.social , edited by me! store.finebooksmagazine.com/autumn-2025/...
If you want to lift your spirits by having a drink & perusing excellent zines, the Pete's Mini Zine Fest is tomorrow at Pete's Candy Store hosted by Quimby's! I'll be bringing my zines on cemeteries, manhole covers, spirit photography & more. www.instagram.com/p/DOtlLgVEZx...
Delightful surprise to open a Brooklyn Public Library book & find it was once Pete Hamill’s! (And inscribed to him by Max Gordon of the Village Vanguard.) Love that this is just part of the circulating collection.
I don't think Lee Hays has got his due as compost burial pioneer, with his last wishes for his ashes to be mixed with a compost pile. He even wrote a farewell poem about it: "If I should die before I wake, / All my bone and sinew take: / Put them in the compost pile / To decompose a little while.
Lee Hays - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
I remember getting two pitches from this "author" this year & naively responded to the first until there was a weird question about Paypal payments. But I feel like this is only the tip of what most editors are seeing of AI pitches, it's such a waste of time & burying everything else
Wired and Business Insider remove articles by AI-generated ‘freelancer’
At least six publications have taken down articles under the name Margaux Blanchard that were AI-generated
theguardian.com
#SundayReads: For more than half a millennium, the dance of death in European visual art has imagined a tango between the quick and the dead. @AllisonCMeier explores: https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/our-mortal-waltz-the-dance-of-death-across-centuries
Some new reporting by me on the preservation of Black churches
The Art Newspaper@theartnewspaper.bsky.social · last yr.Efforts to preserve and repair historic US Black churches get $8.5m boost – The National Trust for Historic Preservation is helping 30 congregations shore up their buildings and share their stories, with their communities and the world buff.ly/VfLiejy
Just want to celebrate that the NYPL Performing Arts Library has an incredible offering of album liner notes that you can examine in their research collections! Saved me a lot of time/money tracking things down.
I've spent much of this year on a Folk Art Museum project rethinking biographies for "outsider" artists & I'm proud these are now coming online! It was inspiring in this time of undervaluing human creativity to commune with those who made their own paths collection.folkartmuseum.org/search/meier
Search meier (Artists) – Search – American Folk Art Museum
eMuseum is a powerful web publishing toolkit that integrates seamlessly with TMS to bring dynamic collection content and images to your website, intranet, and kiosks.
collection.folkartmuseum.org
The summer issue of @finebooks.bsky.social I edited is out, with tales of literary Portugal, people who love endpapers, poisonous books, Route 66 maps & more! Get a copy now in beautiful print www.finebooksmagazine.com/issue
Never not a weird time to promote projects these days but I am proud of this brand new Modernist NYC Map I authored for Blue Crow Media! Has over 50 sites for you to wander actoss the five boroughs bluecrowmedia.com/products/mod...
Did some reporting on very old house news
The Art Newspaper@theartnewspaper.bsky.social · last yr.One of New York City’s oldest houses to open as its neighbourhood’s first museum The Hendrick I. Lott House in southeast Brooklyn—former home to a family of enslavers will undergo a major preservation and renovation project next year buff.ly/uuuVmFc
The Matta-Clark roses are now blooming!
Allison C. Meier@allisoncmeier.bsky.social · 2y agoDid you know that what's likely Gordon Matta-Clark's only surviving public work is a small cage for a rosebush in the East Village? Very happy to report on its revival as my last story for the year www.theartnewspaper.com/2024/12/20/g...
This Thursday my online deep dive on cemetery symbols begins! We'll discover the ancient rites, memento mori meaning, and often overlooked art of how we express the afterlife on our graves. Join live or on your own time: www.morbidanatomy.org/classes/p/sp...
Speak with the Dead: Understanding Cemetery Symbolism with Cemetery Expert Allison C. Meier, Begins May 8 — Morbid Anatomy
Four week class taught online via Zoom Thursdays, May 8 - 29, 2025 7 - 9 pm ET (NYC time) $125 Paid Patreon Members / $145 General Admission Classes will be recorded and archived for studen...
morbidanatomy.org
Cemetery walk season returns this weekend! I'm leading the spring tree wander at Green-Wood in Brooklyn, hopefully giving time to think about our connections to trees and death www.green-wood.com/event/buds-a...
Buds and Blossoms: A Spring Walk at Green-Wood - Green-Wood
Spring is here, and it’s time to experience Green-Wood’s stunning transformation! The Cemetery bursts into a bouquet of colors as hundreds of flowering trees and plants come to life in a dazzling disp...
green-wood.com
This Saturday night! I'm leaving my home to co-host a storytelling event at Chinatown Soup as part of the Goblin Market. Please join & bring any tales you would like to share of Uncanny Journeys. My zines will also be among the market's wares from March 21-30 www.eventbrite.com/e/goblin-mar...
If you want to join any of my spring cemetery happenings, in person in Brooklyn and Buffalo to talk trees and grave history, and online to talk symbolism, I have a new newsletter for you mailchi.mp/ab8d89c57e2d...
As Winter Fades, Cemetery Events Revive! 👻 🌸
mailchi.mp
