Wooden Menagerie: Made in New Mexico
In the Hispanic Heritage Wing
Through February 15, 2015
This exhibition celebrates the rich Hispano folk tradition of animal wood carving in New Mexico and the continued influence on the national and international scene. During the Work Progress Administration (WPA) period of the 1930's, the traditional arts of the region gained resurgence through federal programmed that trained and employed New Mexican folk artists. In 1936, Patrocino Barela's expressionistic woodcarvings created under the auspices of the Federal Arts Project were a part of New Horizons in American Art at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The wood carving tradition continued into the 1960's primarily for the tourist trade with classic carvings of burros and oxen drawn carts. During this time artists started experimenting with recycled materials and common household paint. The Museum of International Folk Art gratefully acknowledges the following donors for their support: The International Folk art Foundation, The Museum of New Mexico Foundation, Newman's Own Foundation and the Museum of New Mexico Exhibitions Development Fund.


Pottery of the U.S. South:
A Living Tradition
In the Bartlett Gallery
Through January 3, 2016
Pottery of the U.S. South: A Living Tradition presents traditional stoneware from North Carolina and northern Georgia—current works characterized by earthy local clays and surprising effects of wood firing. Rooted in British and German ceramic traditions and once crucial to Southern agrarian life, Southern pottery today remains vital, a distinctive art form through which potters actively engage with their region in ways both old and new. As museum visitors explore these ways, they are invited to consider for themselves the dynamics of a living tradition. (Photo: Wood-fired, salt-glazed jugs by Chad Brown (left, 2011) and his great-great-grandfather W. H. Crisco (right, 1880s), Seagrove, North Carolina. Museum of International Folk Art, IFAF Collection. (FA.2012.24.5, FA.2013.57.1) Photo: Addison Doty)


Multiple Visions: A Common Bond
Long term in the Girard Wing
Alexander and Susan Girard began a lifetime of collecting on their honeymoon trip to Mexico in 1939. Objects were selected for their beauty, humor, whimsy, enthusiasm, spontaneity and directness and they illustrate humankind's universal need to give form to a sense of ornament, delight, and wonder. The Girard Family collection of more than 100,000 objects is unique in part because of its size and breadth : more than 100 countries on six continents are represented. Enjoy this text-free gallery with or without a docent, pick up a Gallery Guide to read more about the cases, or pick up a multi-media tour on an Ipod touch available at the front desk for no additional fee.

Between Two Worlds:
Folk Artists Reflect on The Immigrant Experience
In the Mark Naylor and Dale Gunn Gallery of Conscience

GALLERY TEMPORARILY CLOSED
REOPENS TUESDAY FEBRAURY 3, 2015

and continues through
Through January 17, 2016
The Gallery of Conscience is an experimental space where the public is invited to help shape the content and form of the exhibition through interactive elements and facilitated dialogues. Each exhibition changes throughout its life in response to visitor feedback and community participation. Between Two Worlds: Folk Artists Reflect on the Immigrant Experience, features fiber arts, carving, paintings and works on paper about immigrant journeys and the challenges of transitioning to a new home. Folk artists from the Americas, Africa and Asia articulate the hopes, fears, and challenges of those who leave their homes to settle in a new place, those left behind, and those who welcome them in their midst. Mozambique artist Camurdino Mustafá Jethá holds his sculpture Refugiados (Refugees), 2013. Photo courtesy of Laura Marcus Green. This exhibit is made possible in part by an Art Works award from the National Endowment for the Arts. The Museum gratefully acknowledges the support of Mark Naylor and Dale Gunn, the International Folk Art Alliance, the International Folk Art Foundation, the Museum of New Mexico Foundation’s Director’s Leadership and Exhibitions Development Funds, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences. Our dialogue series is part of the National Dialogues on Immigration Project of the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience.

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