Brian Dudley Barrett, an independent scholar from the United Kingdom, will present "Coastal Artists' Colonies of Europe's North Sea" at Northern Michigan University. The event begins at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 18, in room 165 of the Art and Design Building. The public is invited.

Barrett's doctoral dissertation, which explores coastal artists' colonies in northern Europe, is now available as a book. He investigates the origins of these colonies, their financial structures, the preferred subjects of the artists and the importance of the close relationships between artists and innkeepers in these coastal towns and villages. His period of focus is on 1880-1920, a time of cutting-edge experimentation in European art. He conducted research in Denmark, Germany and Holland for the project.