Babette Katz, a Purchase printmaker, will have her 1995 artist's book "My Flag" displayed at the Smithsonian starting Thursday, Oct. 8.

Katz, a resident of High Point at Broadview on the SUNY Purchase campus, learned that "My Flag" was selected for "American Stories: Artists' Books from Smithsonian Libraries and Archives." The exhibition opens at the National Museum of American History on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., as first reported by Patch.

The show is part of the Smithsonian's programming leading up to the nation's 250th anniversary. It features works by more than 50 American artists exploring identity, community and history through the medium of the artist's book. Katz's piece sits alongside works by established names such as Sol LeWitt, Adrian Piper and Ed Ruscha, according to the Smithsonian Libraries and Archives.

"My Flag" is a limited edition of 700 copies, printed in red, white, blue and black from linoleum cuts. The book depicts a crowd of people stepping into the ocean, riding waves, cavorting across red and white stripes and a blue field, whirling around firework bursts. The figures are eventually transformed into the stars on the American flag.

The Smithsonian describes the book as evoking "the challenges and joys of people working together to weave our national story."

Katz has described her artist's books as wordless visual narratives in the tradition of the graphic novel. She creates hand-pulled relief prints using carving tools, rollers, oil-based ink and a rubbing spoon pressed against fine rice paper laid over carved linoleum.

Her work has been acquired by 85 museums and institutions worldwide, according to her website. Collections holding her books include the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Library of Congress, the Tate Museum in London and Harvard University. Fifteen museums, including Yale and the New York Public Library, own all five of her books.

Rob D'Elia, executive director of High Point at Broadview, called the selection a tremendous honor for Katz and the Broadview community.

High Point at Broadview is an assisted living community within Broadview at Purchase College, one of the first university retirement communities in New York located on a college campus. Broadview opened May 2, 2024, and includes classrooms, galleries, studios and a coffeehouse where residents, students and faculty mix.

Admission is free. The exhibition requires no passes and is open 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily in the Smithsonian Libraries Gallery on the first floor, west wing of the National Museum of American History at 12th Street and Constitution Avenue NW.