About a month ago, OnMilwaukee.com tried something new in the art scene. Instead of just reporting on interesting and innovative new artists that we discover around town via Gallery Night and other art openings, we took a more proactive approach to highlighting local (and non-local) talent.

We decided to make the art news, rather than cover it.

On Oct. 10 we hosted Art Riot, a day-long multi-media show that featured more than 40 local and national artists, and premiered the Milwaukee debut of "American Artifact: The Rise of American Rock Poster Art."

Directed by Merle Becker, the 88-minute documentary collected interviews from the country's most prominent and interesting screenprinters and poster designers. Some of the industry's finest joined us for the day in Milwaukee and I was lucky enough to catch a quick chat with Chicago-based artist Steve Walters, founder of the well-known Screwball Press.

Another now-famous Chicago rock poster artist named Jay Ryan was unable to attend the event, but graciously sent some of his best prints for us to display in our main gallery along West Vliet Street. If you're a fan and you missed the chance to buy one of his pieces in person, you're in luck.

With his brand new retrospective monograph, "Animals and Objects In and Out of Water," in tow, Ryan comes back to Milwaukee this Thursday, Nov. 12 to celebrate the book's launch at Sugar Maple, 411 E. Lincoln Ave., at 7 p.m.

"This 144-page perfect-bound book collects my favorite works from 2005 to 2008, with over 100 posters, including text about each print, as well as an introduction by Andrew Bird and an essay by (best-selling novelist) Joe Meno," says Ryan.

So, come pick up his new book, get your poster collection signed, or just grab a beer and say hello to a talented artist who is helping to keep hand screenprinted art alive and thriving in the age of mass digital printing.