Celebrating 25 Years of the Girard Wing, 1982 - 2007

For 25 years, people have been enthralled by Alexander Girard's exhibition Multiple Visions: A Common Bond. Drawn to this dizzying and colorful display of folk art from over 100 countries, visitors marvel over the fact that the exhibition is just one part of one man's collection. Who was Alexander Girard? What compelled him to amass a collection of over 100,000 objects? Why did he design "Multiple Visions" in the way that he did?

Born to an American mother and a French-Italian father in New York City in 1907, Alexander "Sandro" Girard was raised in Florence, Italy. As a child, he was fascinated by crèches. He envisioned the nativity characters within them as being real. Girard created his own crèches from pieces that were given to him. Eventually he collected them.

As an adult, Girard studied architecture in Rome and London. In 1936 he married Susan Needham from Philadelphia and they moved to Detroit, where Girard designed the interiors of offices, businesses and homes. His concept of design included everything, drapery, carpets, furniture, even the placement of objects within a room. In 1953 Girard became the head of textile design at the Herman Miller Corporation. Here he worked with fellow designers George Nelson and Ray and Charles Eames. During this period, textiles were considered to be purely functional, without much decoration. Girard infused his fabric designs with his philosophy that design should be fun and created bold and opulent patterns that became synonymous with the 60's in the U.S.A.

In 1953 the Girards moved to Santa Fe, and Alexander continued to work on ground breaking design projects in other parts of the U.S.A. and abroad. He created a bold overall look for Braniff Airlines which included everything from the exterior of the plane to stewardess uniforms to the sugar packets that were dispensed with coffee. Girard's comprehensive and revolutionary design approach galvanized the La Fonda del Sol and L'Etoile restaurants, as well as exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art.

All the while, the Girards had been actively collecting folk art from Latin America, Japan, India and other countries. "With me it was really pretty simple: love of the objects came first, and there was absolutely no other criterion for collection. What concerns me is an object's intrinsic value. And collecting for that reason is very different from acquiring things as if they were currency." Stimulated by international travel, their collection began to take on a life of its own in terms of scope and quantity of objects.

In 1978 the Girards generously donated their collection to the Museum of International Folk Art. The following year the new Girard Wing was constructed and the size of the museum doubled. Girard orchestrated the design of Multiple Visions and placement of all of the objects. He created intricate settings and environments for his collections and eschewed traditional label text as well as traditional exhibition design. The installation fills the entire space. Objects are placed overhead and under eye level. Girard wanted people to have a pure visual experience and an open-ended appreciation for the objects while encouraging observations about the vitality and common themes of human experience.

Bibliography

Children's Books

Buchanan, Ken. This House is Made of Mud. Flagstaff: Northland Publishing Co., 1991.

Macaulay, David. Cathedral, The Story of Its Construction. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Co., 1973.

City, A Story of Roman Planning and Construction. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1974.

Mosque. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 2004.

Adult Books

Beardsley, John. Gardens of Revelation, Environments by Visionary Artists. New York: Abbeville Press, 1995.

Courtney-Clarke, Margaret. African Canvas, The Art of West African Women. New York: Rizzoli International Publications, Inc., 1990.

Glassie, Henry. The Spirit of Folk Art. New York: Harry N. Abrams in association with the Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe, 1989.

Museum of International Folk Art. Folk Art from the Global Village. Santa Fe: Museum of New Mexico Press, 1995.

Slafer, Anna. Why Design? Activities and Projects from the National Building Museum. Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 1995