Events for Mar. 2017

The Museum of International Folk Art is FREE for New Mexico residents the first Sunday of each month.

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Looking for a fun, creative art class for your preschool-aged child? Want to share the wonders of museums with them? The New Mexico Museum of Art and the Museum of International Folk Art invite children aged 3-5 years and their caregivers to be part of an exciting new class series, S.T.A.R.T.: Sharing Time, Art, and Reading Together. The classes feature interactive storytime, songs and games, a sensory-rich museum tour, and creative art-making. Caregivers participate alongside kids and receive books and materials to take home.

Register for a four-week series of classes the Museum of International Folk Art Saturdays, 10-11 am, March 11th, 18th, 25th, and April 1, 2017

The classes are free but space is limited. We request that families register ONLY if they are able to attend all 4 classes in a session. Also, please note we require one adult per child, and we cannot accommodate younger or older siblings. For more information.contact Sara Van Note, sara.vannote@state.nm.us or call (505) 476-5075

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This is the first large-scale museum exhibition dedicated to tramp art since 1975. For many years, “tramp art” was believed to have been made by itinerants and hobos, thus its name. It has been demonstrated that this notion is largely erroneous, however the name “tramp art” has remained the only terminology used for this practice, and the paucity of scholarly studies to dispel the mistaken notions about tramp art have allowed the myths to persist. No Idle Hands will examine the assumptions related to class, quality, and the anonymity of the makers of tramp art and consider this practice instead through the lens of home and family while tracing its relationship to industry—whether as individual ethos or big industry. No Idle Hands will also include works by contemporary makers, thus establishing tramp art as an ongoing folk art form rather than a vestige of the past.

Opening events include a lecture by Clifford Wallach from 1 to 2 pm.  From 2 to 4pm Enjoy making notched paper frames, an art project for ages 3 to 103, live music by the Holmsteaders, and a reception hosted by the Women’s Board of the Museum of New Mexico Foundation. FREE admission for all generously funded by the Carol & Marilynn Thoma Art Foundation.

The exhibition and accompanying publication supported by the International Folk Art Foundation; the Museum of New Mexico Foundation and donors to the Exhibitions Development Fund; the Folk Art Committee/Friends of Folk Art; the Greenberg Foundation; and the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs.

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Longtime tramp art dealer and aficionado Clifford Wallach discusses his three decades of research on tramp art and reflects upon his personal journey in this field. Drawing on his findings and interviews with artists or their descendants and acquaintances, Wallach, the author of three books on tramp art, will shed new light on various questions related to tramp art, including who the makers of tramp art were—and are today.

This lecture is in conjunction with the public opening of the exhibition No Idle Hands: The Myths & Meanings of Tramp Art. Free admission and all opening events generously funded by the Carl & Marilynn Thoma Art Foundation.

Caption:Keepsake box with hand and hearts (United States, late 19th-early 20th century), wood, 8 ½ x 10 x 7 in. Courtesy of Robin Small. Photo: Clare Britt.

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Tramp art is the product of industry, a style of woodworking from the late 19th and early 20th centuries that made use of discarded cigar boxes and crates that were notched and layered to make a variety of domestic objects. In conjunction with the Museum of International Folk Art exhibition No Idle Hands: The Myths and Meanings of Tramp Art , this presentation will explore this long misunderstood art form.

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The event is offered in conjunction with the Sacred Realm: Blessings & Good Fortune Across Asia exhibition and celebrates its final day on March 19, 2017. 

At the end of  Piers Watson’s presentation, paper flowers made by the public as offerings throughout the run of the Sacred Realm exhibition will be burned in the fire pit, concluding the exhibition.   

Demonstration will be held on the Milner Plaza in front of the Museum of International Folk Art and the lecture will be in the  Museum of International Folk Art, on Museum Hill

Demonstration is open to the public, and the lecture is free with museum admission

The Sacred Realm exhibition features amulets, votive offerings, and ritual objects imbued with other-worldly, divine qualities. Whether used in sacred dance, to pray or help individuals show gratitude or ask for specific favors, to interact with ancestors and deities, or to ward off evil and attract positivity, these objects are means to similar ends. As part of the exhibition, audiences are invited to engage in gallery activities such as making amulets and creating offerings, and are invited to attend the lecture and demonstration to learn about the Luted Crucible casting process—an ancient technique for making metal sculptures including dieties that are represented in Sacred Realm.

Luted Crucible casting is a pre-Industrial Age lost wax technique, found in the archeological record at the 10th century, that is still in use in parts of India and West Africa but is almost unknown in Europe and America. Due to its efficiency, low cost and low risk to health, it is considered a natural form of bronze-casting with great potential for small-scale casting, exploration and experimentation.

Guest artist Piers Watson learned the process of Luted Crucible casting as an apprentice of hereditary tribal casters of Bastar from Chhattisgarh, India. In 2015 he self-published, "The Luted Crucible, a Pre-Industrial Method of Metal Casting," the only book written by a practitioner of the craft and focused entirely on the subject. As an artist, he exhibits his work in Europe and the USA.

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