Ariane Roesch Releases Debut Book: How to Build: a House, a Life, a Future

Cover of ‘How to Build: a House, a Life, a Future’ by Ariane Roesch | Image courtesy of Atmen Press

Artist and writer Ariane Roesch (Art MFA 11) relates her personal and meditative tale of home ownership in her debut publication How to Build: a House, a Life, a Future (Atmen Press).

How to Build narrates Roesch’s adventures in building a home with her now-husband Zachary Miano in Houston. Over the course of two years, the pair plan out their dreams of big city life with off-grid savvy, hatching plans from a shipping container on their property. The book weaves anecdotes about keeping the project financially viable with practical advice about homeowner procedures, documents and relevant ordinances. The book was edited by Nancy Zastudil and designed by Bruno Pieroni, and features more than one hundred illustrations by Roesch and visual artist Kati Ozanic. How to Build’s release is accompanied by several events, including an upcoming reading on Sunday, Dec. 8 at the Cathedral Bookstore in Houston.

Artist and co-director of the Photo and Media Program at CalArts Harry Gamboa Jr. offers the following testimonial of the book: 

The engaging and informative narrative serves as a blueprint that reveals the true dimensionality of complex human endeavor. Each chapter presents successful intellectual and creative problem-solving processes in order to resolve expected/unexpected expenses, delays, and changes in official codes. The friendly and experienced advice that is presented in the book from start to finish will prepare the reader to set out on their own quest to build a house, a life, a future.

Editor of Glasstire Christina Rees lauds Roesch’s “warm, intimate and eminently readable book about a major life decision,” and Houston-based artworker, curator and writer Kelly Johnson describes the book as offering a “practical and creative path to self-reliance and community building, especially for younger generations seeking their own meanings of home.”

Roesch is the recipient of the Houston Arts Alliance’s Support for Artists and Creative Individuals in 2019 and a public art commission from the city of Houston in 2012. Her writings have appeared in publications including SPOT Magazine, Visual Culture Magazine and Glasstire.com. Roesch also hosts a podcast series titled Not a Hobby in which she interviews artists who balance their creative practices with full-time jobs.