Rooted In Function

Folk exhibit shows old-time America in a new-fangled way

This Map Quilt is part of the “American Made: Treasures from the American Folk Art Museum” exhibit.
This Map Quilt is part of the “American Made: Treasures from the American Folk Art Museum” exhibit.

The everyday objects in a person's life can reveal interesting truths about identity. The new exhibit opening Saturday at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville reveals who the early American people were. "American Made: Treasures from the American Folk Art Museum" is an exhibit of more than 100 works, including quilts, paintings, furniture, sculpture, weather vanes and more from the collection of the American Folk Art Museum in New York City. The exhibition is the first presentation of American folk art at Crystal Bridges.

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COURTESY PHOTO CRYSTAL BRIDGES MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART

“Bicycle, Livery, Carriage and Paint Shop Trade Sign” by Amedé T. Thibault was created out of a need to advertise for his business. “This was mounted on top of his shop,” says Mindy Besaw, curator for “American Made.” “And there it remained solidly for a hundred years. It had this function in everyday life, but it was recognizable from a distance. It was remarkably unique. I also think it will be a fan favorite — I think it will resonate with our Bentonville culture.”

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COURTESY PHOTO CRYSTAL BRIDGES MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART

A weather vane decorated as a standing sentinel serves a purpose while also demonstrating craftsmanship and artistry.

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COURTESY PHOTO CRYSTAL BRIDGES MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART

This S.D. Plum Tavern hanging sign is an example of the kind of art work that could be classified as objects serving a purpose —like advertising this tavern’s business.

"The underlying story is how these objects started to reach a higher level," says Mindy Besaw, curator for "American Made." "Why did these objects start to be collected? What was America's interest in this time? Americans were looking back at our own roots and seeing maybe these tables and these samplers are more than that -- they're our American past. All of it wraps together to give us an idea of early American life that we wouldn't already get in our permanent collection."

FYI

‘American Made’

Local Artist Demonstrations – The “American Made” exhibition will include a robust programming schedule including local artists and artisans who are continuing traditions started in the 1700s that have examples displayed in the exhibit. Weavers, quilters, metalsmiths, woodworkers, broom makers and many more will perform demonstrations of their crafts at the entrance of the exhibit during its entire run. This week’s schedule will include: July 2 & 3 (10 am-5 pm): Shawn Hoefer and Jeanette Larson; Common Threads Fiber Arts and More: Jeanette weaves, crochets and spins, and Shawn created handmade wooden tools of the trade such as triangle looms, drop-spindles, hand-carved crochet hooks and knitting needles and his award-winning brooms.July 4 (noon-5 pm): Michael Langford; For the past thirty or so years, he has collected and used vintage woodworking tools, letting the tools inform his work which led to timber framing, woodcarving, boat building, restoring and building houses, barns and furniture. July 6 (noon-5 pm): Peel Mansion Quilt Study Group; Quilters include: Alice McElwain, Rheba Ford and Kay Rhoads: Variety of quilting techniques and materials. July 9 (noon-5 pm): Eugene Sargent; an artist and maker who employs a wide variety of techniques, mediums, and technology. Often inspired by nature, his works include sculpture, ferrocement benches, paintings, lamps, furniture, digital images and automata. In all his work, Sargent strives to find a balance between serendipity and design, with a touch of whimsy.

— Source: crystalbridges.org

FAQ

‘American Made’

WHEN — Saturday-Sept. 19

WHERE — Crystal Bridges Museum in Bentonville

COST — $10; members & under 18, Free

INFO — crystalbridges.org

The exhibition does more than provide context for why an object was created and the purpose it served; the stories with each piece can show social roles, cultural issues and individual struggles of the people who made them.

Like how a table painted by a young woman during her boarding school years demonstrates the societal role on the education of women. Or the seahorse jagging wheel -- a pie crimper -- was made of whale ivory, likely by a man out to sea for a sweetheart back home. The stories filling the exhibition show what was important in the lives of the creators, and what became important to the Americans saving and collecting these objects later.

"When does something like a dresser rise above the every day and become something special?" Besaw says. "We are looking at how to show people that we need to stop and pay attention to these objects and not see them in an hierarchical way -- to see that they were made by extraordinary individuals."

Although the American Folk Art Museum already has a traveling exhibit, the museum agreed to create a new exhibition especially for Crystal Bridges. The curators at Crystal Bridges wanted an exhibition that could serve as a broad introduction to folk art for its visitors because the Bentonville museum has never hosted anything like this exhibition before.

"It gives a really broad flavor of things considered American folk art and really fits with our 'Early America' exhibit," Besaw says. "I hope what it will do is expand out -- that people may be able to recognize a little more familiarity with these objects. We all have that [old piece of furniture in our house]; we all have quilts on our bed. I think people will have that immediate recognition."

She says she believes guests will also appreciate the diversity of the creators included in the exhibit.

"The variety of [the exhibit] is wonderful: there are things made by men, things made by women, some very young women during their boarding school years and some older women," creating the work in their 70s, she says. "One woman even stitched into her quilt 'I made this at 79.'"

Besaw assures the exhibition is so much more than a walk through an antique shop. When these objects started to become more important to later Americans, it is because they were looking back at their Protestant or their Anglo-Saxon ancestors to see how their culture developed. But not their culture broadly defined: it is an intimate culture -- within the home or the personal business -- for which these objects hold the stories.

"When we think of folk art in the context of American art, how can we look at it and think of it in a way of recognizing the special nature of each object individually?" Besaw says. "This exhibit offers a glimpse into American art in a different way than we've ever presented."

NAN What's Up on 07/01/2016

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