Mac Schweitzer
A Southwest Maverick and Her Art
Published on 23. September 2025
Book
Hardback
328 pages
978-1-941451-08-3 (ISBN)
Description
In Tucson during the 1950s, nearly everyone knew, or wanted to know, the southwestern artist Mac Schweitzer. Born Mary Alice Cox in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1921, she grew up a tomboy who adored horses, cowboys, and art. After training at Cleveland School of Art and marrying, she adopted her maiden initials (M. A. C.) as her artistic name and settled in Tucson in 1946. With a circle of influential friends that included anthropologists, designer-craftsmen, and Native American artists, she joined Tucson's 'Early Moderns,' receiving exhibits, commissions, and awards for her artwork. When she died in 1962, Mac's artistic legacy faded from public view, but her prize-winning works attest to a thriving career.
Author Ann Lane Hedlund draws from the artist's letters, photo albums, and published reviews to tell the story of Mac's creative and adventuresome life. Her watercolors, oil paintings, prints, and sculptures - a diverse body of work never before seen in public - range from naturalistic studies of Sonoran Desert animals to impressionistic landscapes to moody abstractions. A sharp observer of Indigenous life, she sketched and painted scenes of Navajo (Dine ), Hopi, O'odham, and Yaqui people and events. These unique portrayals of the Southwest illustrate for this saga of a maverick artist rediscovered.
Author Ann Lane Hedlund draws from the artist's letters, photo albums, and published reviews to tell the story of Mac's creative and adventuresome life. Her watercolors, oil paintings, prints, and sculptures - a diverse body of work never before seen in public - range from naturalistic studies of Sonoran Desert animals to impressionistic landscapes to moody abstractions. A sharp observer of Indigenous life, she sketched and painted scenes of Navajo (Dine ), Hopi, O'odham, and Yaqui people and events. These unique portrayals of the Southwest illustrate for this saga of a maverick artist rediscovered.
Reviews / Votes
"No one has ever delved deeper into the life, unique artistic contributions, and cultural milieu of a Southwestern painter than Ann Hedlund has done for Mac Schweitzer. This amazing woman comes off the page and into our hearts in Ann's writing, surpassing David Robert's biography of Everett Reuss and Roxanna Robinson's of Georgia O'Keefe. Mac Schweitzer will finally and deservedly join the pantheon of the most memorable and culturally-significant artists in the history of American Deserta." - Gary Paul Nabhan, author of Against the American Grain and The Desert Smells Like Rain"Known for her vibrant landscapes and detailed portraits of Native American life, Mac Schweitzer embodied a true spirit of adventure and curiosity. Her work invites us to explore the unknown." - Tricia Loscher, Chief Curator, Desert Caballeros Museum
"From the accomplished rodeo posters of her teenaged years, to the wildlife imagery of the Sonoran desert, and the Hopi and Navajo subjects of the 1950s, painter Mac Schweitzer vividly captured Arizona's landscape and its diverse inhabitants. Anthropologist Ann Lane Hedlund (the daughter-in-law Mac did not live to meet) expertly chronicles the Tucson painter's life and examines her place in the twentieth century artistic landscape of the American Southwest." - Janet Catherine Berlo, Professor of Art History Emerita, University of Rochester
"What an exhilarating book! Mac Schweitzer's artwork is powerfully energetic and infused with the singular beauty of the Southwest. The horses alone will knock you out. Importantly, Ann Hedlund's eloquent rediscovery of this fiercely dedicated and original artist is pertinent to today, a story that can inspire us still." - Sharman Apt Russell, author of What Walks This Way: Discovering the Wildlife Around Us Through Their Tracks and Signs
"A rigorously researched yet intimate and readable biography of a brilliant Southwestern artist who has been overlooked for too long. Thanks to Ann Lane Hedlund, Mac Schweitzer's work and tragically short life will now be remembered. The book is both a feast for the eyes and a riveting read." - Wynne Brown, author of The Forgotten Botanist: Sara Plummer Lemmon's Life of Science and Art
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Tucson
United States
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
235 color photos and illustrations, 62 b&w photos and illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 284 mm
Width: 236 mm
Thickness: 26 mm
Weight
1542 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-941451-08-3 (9781941451083)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Ann Lane Hedlund is a cultural anthropologist who collaborates with Indigenous weavers and other visual artists. She is author of Navajo Weaving in the Late Twentieth Century and Gloria F. Ross amp Modern Tapestry.