Landscapes of Extraction

How artists portrayed the mining industry in the American West is explored with four essays. Artworks were inspired by the multiple landscapes created by large-scale mining, the towns that grew up around them, and the miners and their families who lived and worked there. The industry shaped communities and landscapes throughout the West: Arizona, California, Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah. The book gives a powerful regional narrative that is a fundamental element of national identity played out on a vast geographical scale.