"I know it's a really weird title," Mikulski said, "but it derives from my first teaching experience and asking my students 'Who's your favorite living visual artist?' That's the question I keep asking people and you'd be shocked by how many people don't know. The majority of people don't know and by majority I mean probably 95 percent."
That wasn't acceptable to Mikulski and that's a big reason why he wrote the book, which includes contributions from several other contemporary artists. While today's average Joe and Jane Doe can name countless contemporary musicians and actors, they generally can't do the same with artists. That wasn't always the case. Mikulski said they were really popular in 1960s but, since then, they've kind of fallen off the pop culture map.
"I kept having this conversation with people, with artists too, saying, 'What the hell's going on here; What's the problem? Why don't people appreciate art? Why is it always artists coming to gallery openings?'" Mikulski said. "Finally, I said, 'You know what, I'm going to write about it.'"
Mikulski said the book, available for purchase at artisdeadbook.com, is as much for those in the art community as those outside it.
"I think artists are going to like and I think artists are going to want to be a part of it and read it," he said. "But I also want to mention that it is written for anybody. It is meant to be a book so that people can pick it up, question why we don't know about visual arts and then move forward with it."
For Mikulski's part, he continues to ask the question in class and continues to teach about contempary artists. In all, he teaches three classes - art appreciation and art history at Tunxis and a painting course at Manchester Community College.
"I think it's important not to just teach how to paint and how to draw and how to sculpt," Mikulski said. "It's important to teach who's doing what and who's doing the best stuff right now because you can derive so much inspiration from those type of people."