Tschabalala Self is strikingly upbeat and determinedly hopeful. The American artist is preparing for the unveiling of Lady in Blue, her new work for the fourth plinth in London’s Trafalgar Square: a monumental, vividly painted bronze figure of a black woman moving confidently into the future. Self speaks with certainty about the sculpture, despite the experience she had with her previous public artwork in Britain. “Yes,” she says from her home in upstate New York. “That was an openly racist

For almost three decades, a corner of Sonoma County belonged to Tsarist Russia, leaving a little-known but important mark on the history of the United States. The journey from San Francisco to Fort Ross takes roughly two hours, tracing a spectacular route north along the California coast. Once the fog around the Golden Gate had faded behind me, the road carried me past dry vineyards and towards Sonoma’s isolated shoreline. I opened the car windows. On one side, the land dropped sharply into the