{"32":{"ID":35966,"post_type":"programs","title":"Virtual Insights: Self-Made 5\/12\/26","content":"","status":"publish","date":"2026-03-24 00:02:48","name":"virtual-insights-self-made-5-12-26","parent":0,"modified":"2026-05-19 00:25:48","series?":"Program","category":{"term_id":46,"name":"Virtual Tour","slug":"virtual-tour","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":46,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":18,"count":0,"filter":"raw"},"main_image":{"ID":35967,"id":35967,"title":"banner design(1)","filename":"banner-design1.jpg","filesize":135449,"url":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/banner-design1.jpg","link":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/programs\/virtual-insights-self-made-5-12-26\/banner-design1\/","alt":"","author":"30","description":"","caption":"","name":"banner-design1","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":35966,"date":"2026-03-23 23:59:33","modified":"2026-03-23 23:59:33","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/site\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1920,"height":1080,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/banner-design1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/banner-design1-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/banner-design1-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/banner-design1.jpg","large-width":1920,"large-height":1080,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/banner-design1-1536x864.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":864,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/banner-design1.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1080}},"list_image":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/banner-design1.jpg","headline":"Virtual Insights: Self-Made","di_date":"2026-05-12","excerpt":"

Join us for a curatorial walkthrough of the exhibition, Self-Made: A Century of Inventing Artists<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Lead support for\u00a0Self-Made: A Century of Inventing Artists\u00a0<\/i>and associated public programs is provided by Elizabeth Hurtt and Douglas Branson.<\/p>\n

Watch a recording of this program online<\/span> here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","start_time":"1:00 pm","end_time":"2:15 pm","admission":"Virtual; free with registration","main_content":"

\n

Self-Made: A Century of Inventing Artists<\/em><\/a>\u00a0takes a critical look at the historical definition of the \u201cself-taught artist\u201d in the United States from the early twentieth century to today. This exhibition examines how artists without academic training have depicted themselves, on their own terms, through the lenses of self-portraiture, alter egos, and autobiography.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Val\u00e9rie Rousseau<\/strong>, Curatorial Chair and Senior Curator of 20th-Century & Contemporary Art, and\u00a0Suzie Oppenheimer<\/strong>, Ponsold-Motherwell Curatorial Fellow and Research Associate, will lead a walkthrough of the exhibition in dialogue with one another. Together, the co-curators will highlight drawings, paintings, sculptures, films, and notebooks on view in the gallery and explore how artists conceptualized and represented themselves over the last century.<\/p>\n

This program offers a unique opportunity to witness the diversity and depths of the Museum\u2019s collection while looking into the entwinement of creative agency and conceptions of the self.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

About the speakers<\/strong><\/p>\n

Val\u00e9rie Rousseau<\/strong>, Ph.D., is Curatorial Chair and Senior Curator of 20th-Century & Contemporary Art at the American Folk Art Museum, New York. She overviewed critically acclaimed exhibitions, notably\u00a0When the Curtain Never Comes Down\u00a0<\/em>(AAMC Award, 2015),\u00a0Art Brut in America: The Incursion of Jean Dubuffet<\/em>\u00a0(2015),\u00a0Photo|Brut\u00a0<\/em>(2021),\u00a0Morris Hirshfield Rediscovered<\/em>\u00a0(2022), as well as projects on the concomitance of psychiatric and artistic avant-gardes (Francesc Tosquelles<\/em>, 2024), neurodiversity (IMLS, 2024\u20132026), the intersections of folk art and art brut (Cahiers du Mnam<\/em>\u00a0166, 2023\u20132024), and artists William Edmondson, Auguste Forestier, Eugen Gabritschevsky, Bill Traylor (FILAF Award, 2018), and Madalena Santos Reinbolt (ARTnews Award nomination, 2025).<\/p>\n

Suzie Oppenheimer<\/strong>\u00a0is the Ponsold-Motherwell Curatorial Fellow and Research Associate at the American Folk Art Museum, New York. She is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Art History at the City University of New York, Graduate Center, where she researches art of the hemispheric Americas in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. She has held curatorial positions at the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Art Institute of Chicago, and has taught as an adjunct lecturer across the CUNY colleges. Her curatorial projects have included\u00a0Eleanor Antin: Time\u2019s Arrow\u00a0<\/em>(2020) and\u00a0Pope.L: The Escape<\/em>\u00a0(2018). She has presented her research at the Institute of Fine Arts\u2013Frick Symposium, the Yale University American Art Graduate Symposium, the College Art Association conference, and the International Nineteenth-Century Studies Association conference.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Images\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Left: Bill Traylor (1853, near Pleasant Hill and Benton, Alabama\u20131949, Montgomery), Untitled, 1939\u20131942, Montgomery, Alabama, Poster paint and graphite on cardboard, 10 3\/4 x 15 in., American Folk Art Museum, New York, Gift from the Estate of Lanford Wilson, 2022.24.1, image courtesy Ricco\/Maresca<\/p>\n

Middle:. John Kane (1860, Scotland\u20131934, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), John Kane and His Wife, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, c. 1928, Oil on canvas, 23 x 23 1\/2 in. Collection of Frank S. Tosto Photo courtesy Kallir Research Institute, New York<\/p>\n

Right: Lee Godie (1908, Chicago, Illinois\u20131994, Plato Center, Illinois), Untitled (\u2018Lee in a large hate.\u2019), Chicago, Illinois, 1970s, Ballpoint pen on photograph, 5 x 3 3\/4 in. American Folk Art Museum, New York, Gift of Charles B. and Janice M. Rosenak, 2024.14.1<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Registration<\/strong><\/p>\n

Space is limited; advance registration is required. Please consider making a donation when you register to support ongoing virtual programming.<\/p>\n

Instructions for joining with a Zoom link and password will be provided by email upon registration confirmation under \u201cAdditional Information.\u201d<\/p>\n

For questions or to request accessibility accommodations, please email publicprograms@folkartmuseum.org.Closed captioning will be provided in English.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","show_in_past_programs":true,"reserve_text":"WATCH HERE","reserve_link":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/4dKlUrMj7cM","day":"12","month":"May","year":"2026","link":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/programs\/virtual-insights-self-made-5-12-26\/"},"38":{"ID":35972,"post_type":"programs","title":"Virtual Insights: Folk Nation 4\/27\/26","content":"","status":"publish","date":"2026-03-24 00:10:19","name":"virtual-insights-folk-nation-4-27-26","parent":0,"modified":"2026-05-19 00:22:28","series?":"Program","category":{"term_id":46,"name":"Virtual Tour","slug":"virtual-tour","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":46,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":18,"count":0,"filter":"raw"},"main_image":{"ID":35973,"id":35973,"title":"image","filename":"image.jpeg","filesize":60950,"url":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/image.jpeg","link":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/programs\/virtual-insights-folk-nation-4-27-26\/image\/","alt":"","author":"30","description":"","caption":"","name":"image","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":35972,"date":"2026-03-24 00:07:28","modified":"2026-03-24 00:07:28","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/site\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":940,"height":529,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/image-150x150.jpeg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/image-300x169.jpeg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/image-768x432.jpeg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/image.jpeg","large-width":940,"large-height":529,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/image.jpeg","1536x1536-width":940,"1536x1536-height":529,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/image.jpeg","2048x2048-width":940,"2048x2048-height":529}},"list_image":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/image.jpeg","headline":"Virtual Insights: Folk Nation","di_date":"2026-04-27","excerpt":"

Join us for a curatorial walkthrough of the exhibition, Folk Nation: Crafting Patriotism in the United States<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Watch a recording of this program online<\/span> here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","start_time":"1:00 pm","end_time":"2:15 pm","admission":"Virtual; free with registration","main_content":"

Drawn from the American Folk Art Museum\u2019s collection,\u00a0Folk Nation: Crafting Patriotism in the United States<\/em><\/a>\u00a0examines how Americans have defined themselves through the creation, collection, and transmission of vernacular objects.<\/p>\n

In this virtual walkthrough, Emelie Gevalt, AFAM\u2019s Deborah Davenport and Stewart Stender Deputy Director & Chief Curatorial and Program Officer, guides us through the galleries to discuss the variety and artistry of works on view, including oil paintings, drawings, needlework, and sculpture.<\/p>\n

Focusing on objects and the stories they hold, this tour illuminates how folk art has both reflected and shaped diverse narratives of American identity from the 18th century to the present.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

About the speaker<\/strong><\/p>\n

Emelie Gevalt<\/strong>\u00a0is Deborah Davenport and Stewart Stender Deputy Director and Chief Curatorial & Program Officer at the American Folk Art Museum in New York City. Her exhibitions at AFAM include the critically acclaimed\u00a0What that Quilt Knows About Me<\/em>\u00a0(2023) and\u00a0Unnamed Figures: Black Presence and Absence in the Early American North<\/em>\u00a0(2023). Gevalt received her B.A. in art history and theater studies from Yale University, her M.A. from the Winterthur Program in American Material Culture, and her doctorate in art history from the University of Delaware. Her two decades of art-world experience include positions at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and Christie\u2019s, New York, where she was a Vice President in the Estates, Appraisals & Valuations department.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Images<\/strong><\/p>\n

Left: William Edmondson (1874\u20131951),\u00a0Angel,\u00a0<\/em>Nashville, Tennessee, 1937, Limestone 18 3\/8 x 13 x 6 1\/2 in. Gift of Audrey B. Heckler, 2025.14.19<\/p>\n

Right:\u00a0Situation of America, 1848,\u00a0<\/em>1848, Oil on wood panel, 34 x 58 1\/2 x 1 3\/8 in.
\nGift of Ralph Esmerian<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Registration<\/strong><\/p>\n

Space is limited; advance registration is required. Please consider making a donation when you register to support ongoing virtual programming.<\/p>\n

Instructions for joining with a Zoom link and password will be provided by email upon registration confirmation under \u201cAdditional Information.\u201d<\/p>\n

Closed captioning will be provided in English.<\/p>\n

For questions or to request accessibility accommodations, please email publicprograms@folkartmuseum.org.<\/p>\n

1:00-2:15 p.m. ET<\/p>\n","show_in_past_programs":true,"reserve_text":"WATCH HERE","reserve_link":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/vNYlUn0oXgM","day":"27","month":"Apr","year":"2026","link":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/programs\/virtual-insights-folk-nation-4-27-26\/"},"42":{"ID":35755,"post_type":"programs","title":"2026 Anne Hill Blanchard Uncommon Artists Lecture","content":"","status":"publish","date":"2026-02-05 22:03:23","name":"2026-anne-hill-blanchard-uncommon-artists-lecture","parent":0,"modified":"2026-05-20 19:26:38","series?":"Program","category":{"term_id":25,"name":"Symposia & Lectures","slug":"symposiaandlectures","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":25,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":18,"count":0,"filter":"raw"},"main_image":{"ID":35756,"id":35756,"title":"banner design - 1","filename":"banner-design1.jpg","filesize":233132,"url":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/banner-design1.jpg","link":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/programs\/2026-anne-hill-blanchard-uncommon-artists-lecture\/banner-design-1-10\/","alt":"","author":"30","description":"","caption":"","name":"banner-design-1-10","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":35755,"date":"2026-02-05 21:58:02","modified":"2026-02-05 21:58:02","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/site\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1247,"height":644,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/banner-design1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/banner-design1-300x155.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":155,"medium_large":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/banner-design1-768x397.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":397,"large":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/banner-design1.jpg","large-width":1247,"large-height":644,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/banner-design1.jpg","1536x1536-width":1247,"1536x1536-height":644,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/banner-design1.jpg","2048x2048-width":1247,"2048x2048-height":644}},"list_image":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/banner-design1-copy.jpg","headline":"2026 Anne Hill Blanchard Uncommon Artists Lecture","di_date":"2026-03-22","excerpt":"

Join us online for the 2026 Anne Hill Blanchard Uncommon Artists Lecture and discover new research on artists Henri Rousseau, Gladys Nomfanekiso Mgudlandlu, and Lalitha Lajmi with talks by Nancy Ireson, Nontobeko Ntombela, and Skye Arundhati Thomas.<\/span><\/p>\n

Watch a recording of this program online<\/span> here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","start_time":"1:00 pm","end_time":"3:00 pm","admission":"Online; free with registration","main_content":"

Join us online for the 2026 Anne Hill Blanchard Uncommon Artists Lecture.<\/span><\/p>\n

Talks will present new research by curators and writers Nancy Ireson, Nontobeko Ntombela and Skye Arundhati Thomas, drawing on the themes and frameworks of the American Folk Art Museum\u2019s modern and contemporary collection.<\/span><\/p>\n

Approaching modernisms from various times and geographies, this year\u2019s lecture presents three painters who captured the world through dreamlike and symbolic perspectives, Henri Rousseau (1844 – 1910), Gladys Nomfanekiso Mgudlandlu (1917-1979) and Lalitha Lajmi (1932-2023).<\/span><\/p>\n

Art historian and curator Nancy Ireson unveils new findings on Henri Rousseau\u2019s celebrated paintings; curator and art historian Nontobeko Ntombela reframes the pioneering position of Gladys Nomfanekiso Mgudlandlu as South Africa\u2019s first Black woman artist, revealing a complex interplay between cultural identity, artistic freedom, and social context; and Skye Arundhati Thomas examines Lalitha Lajmi\u2019s self-portraits within the broader political and social context of post-independence India.<\/span><\/p>\n

The <\/span>Anne Hill Blanchard Uncommon Artists Lecture Series<\/span><\/a> highlights new and important contributions to the field of folk and self-taught art. This annual series honors the late Anne Hill Blanchard, an inspiring and passionate leader in the field and a devoted supporter of the American Folk Art Museum.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Schedule<\/strong><\/p>\n

1:00 p.m. EST Welcome & Opening Remarks<\/span><\/p>\n

1:10\u00a0 p.m. EST Nancy Ireson\u00a0 on Henri Rousseau (France; 1844 – 1910)<\/span><\/p>\n

1:40 p.m. EST Nontobeko Ntombela on Gladys Nomfanekiso Mgudlandlu (South Africa; 1917-1979)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

2:10 p.m. EST Skye Arundhati Thomas on Lalitha Lajmi (India; 1932-2023)<\/span><\/p>\n

2: 40 pm EST Q&A<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Speakers<\/strong><\/p>\n

Skye Arundhati Thomas<\/strong> is a curator, writer and editor from India. Their latest book, an anthology of writing and art, Palestine is everywhere (Ed.) is co-published by TBA21, Silver Press, and the87Press. Pleasure Gardens (co-written with Izabella Scott) was published by Mack Books in 2024, as was a book on the painter Lalitha Lajmi, by Sternberg Press. From 2021-24 they were co-editor of The White Review. They have previously curated shows at Galerie Anne Barrault and Beaux-arts de Paris.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Nancy Ireson<\/strong> is an Art Historian and curator with over 20 years of industry experience. She was Deputy Director for Collections and Exhibitions & Gund Family Chief Curator at the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia from 2018-2025, and has held curatorial positions at Tate Modern, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Courtauld Gallery, and the National Gallery, London. Exhibitions she has curated or co-curated include Henri Rousseau: A Painter’s Secrets (Barnes, 2025) Modigliani Up Close (Barnes, 2022), Suzanne Valadon: Model, Painter, Rebel (Barnes, 2021), Picasso 1932: Love, Fame, Tragedy (Tate Modern, 2018), Modigliani (Tate Modern, 2017), Temptation! The Demons of James Ensor (Art Institute of Chicago, 2014), and C\u00e9zanne\u2019s Card Players (Courtauld Gallery, 2010). Ireson holds a PhD on Henri Rousseau from the Courtauld Institute of Art, London, and an MBA from the Alliance Manchester Business School.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Nontobeko Ntombela<\/strong> began her career as a curator in 2000 and has worked at various institutions, including the Art for Humanity (2000-2002), BAT Centre (2002-2005), Durban University Art Gallery (2005-2010), and the Johannesburg Art Gallery (2010-2012), where she managed art collections and curated numerous exhibitions. In 2012, Ntombela assumed an academic position at the University of the Witwatersrand (School of the Arts), where she remains a lecturer in art history, curating, and heritage studies in the Department of Curatorial, Publics, and Visual Cultures. During her time at Wits, she has developed the curatorial programme, which was inaugurated in 2019. Since joining Wits, her curatorial practice has shifted from community-based projects to more archivally, research-led historical curatorial approaches. Some of her most notable curatorial projects include: \u201cThen I Knew I Was Good at Painting: Esther Mahlangu, A Retrospective (2024-2025) at Iziko National Gallery and Wits Art Museum, “When Rain Clouds Gather: South African Black Women Artists 1940\u20132000” (2022-2023) at the Norval Foundation in Cape Town, The Burden of Memory (2019) a multiple cite event in the city of Yaound\u00e9 Cameroon; A Fragile Archive (2012) at the Johannesburg Art Gallery, some of which were co-curated. She is the 2025 winner of the South African National Arts and Culture Awards for Outstanding Curator. In the same year, her PhD dissertation titled \u201cValerie Desmore\u2019s Refusal(s): Art Practice as Biomythography\u201d (2024) won the African Studies Review ASR Best Africa-Based Dissertation Award. Ntombela serves on the Johannesburg Art Gallery Acquisitions Committee. She has previously served on other committees for the Department of Arts and Culture, VANSA (Visual Arts Network of South Africa), the National Arts Council, KZNSA (KwaZulu-Natal Society of Arts), the Art for Human Rights Trust, and the UNISA Art Gallery.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Images<\/strong><\/p>\n

Left: <\/span>Lalitha Lajmi, Woman and child with three birds, 2015. Watercolour on paper, <\/span>14 1\/2 x 11 in. Courtesy of the Estate of Lalitha Lajmi and galerie anne barrault, Paris<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Middle: <\/span>Henri Rousseau. Unpleasant Surprise (Mauvaise surprise), 1899\u20131901, Oil on canvas. The Barnes Foundation<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Right: Gladys Mgudlandlu, <\/span>Two white birds flying over Mountains and Tree<\/span><\/i>s, 1962. Gouache, 22 1\/16 x 14 9\/16 in.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Registration<\/strong><\/p>\n

Space is limited; advance registration is required. Please consider making a donation when you register to support ongoing virtual programming.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Instructions for joining with a Zoom link and password will be provided by email upon registration confirmation under \u201cAdditional Information.\u201d Closed captioning will be provided in English. For questions or to request accessibility accommodations, please email publicprograms@folkartmuseum.org<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n","show_in_past_programs":true,"reserve_text":"WATCH HERE","reserve_link":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/700r1GrNQEw","day":"22","month":"Mar","year":"2026","link":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/programs\/2026-anne-hill-blanchard-uncommon-artists-lecture\/"},"44":{"ID":35359,"post_type":"programs","title":"Blue Magic 2\/21\/26","content":"","status":"publish","date":"2025-09-30 18:50:02","name":"blue-magic-2-21-26","parent":0,"modified":"2026-06-12 22:03:55","series?":"Program","category":{"term_id":31,"name":"Special Events","slug":"special-events","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":31,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":18,"count":0,"filter":"raw"},"main_image":{"ID":36197,"id":36197,"title":"banner design - 1","filename":"banner-design15.jpg","filesize":237795,"url":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/banner-design15.jpg","link":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/programs\/blue-magic-2-21-26\/banner-design-1-13\/","alt":"","author":"30","description":"","caption":"","name":"banner-design-1-13","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":35359,"date":"2026-06-12 21:55:40","modified":"2026-06-12 21:55:40","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/site\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1641,"height":520,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/banner-design15-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/banner-design15-300x95.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":95,"medium_large":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/banner-design15-768x243.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":243,"large":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/banner-design15.jpg","large-width":1641,"large-height":520,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/banner-design15-1536x487.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":487,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/banner-design15.jpg","2048x2048-width":1641,"2048x2048-height":520}},"list_image":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/banner-design15.jpg","headline":"Blue Magic \u2013 Alexandria Eregbu Responds to An Ecology of Quilts: The Natural History of American Textiles","di_date":"2026-02-21","excerpt":"

Join us for a series of live performances conceived and performed by artist and musician Alexandria Eregbu, in response to the exhibition <\/span>An Ecology of Quilts: The Natural History of American Textiles<\/em>.<\/p>\n","start_time":"11:30 am","end_time":"7:00 pm","admission":"In-Person; free with registration","main_content":"

Blue Magic<\/strong><\/em> is a sonic and textile environment exploring the deep histories of the color blue. This live program is a unique chance to experience the material connections between textile, color and land while attuning to deep time and ancestral memory.<\/span><\/p>\n

Join us in the galleries with guest artist Alexandria Eregbu for a newly commissioned sound work weaving her poetry, field recordings, sampled media, and folk music, with her textile works serving as a vibrant performance backdrop. Drawing from American quilting practice, oral storytelling, sound, and her own family history as a Nigerian-American, the artist will activate both sonically and visually the textiles included in the exhibition <\/span>An Ecology of Quilts: The Natural History of American Textiles<\/em><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Using her signature indigo-dyed textiles, Alexandria Eregbu affirms the material and cultural significance of indigo (<\/span>Indigofera tinctoria<\/span><\/em>), a plant indigenous to West Africa, India, and Southeast Asia that became a crucial resource in American fashion, arts and design industries in the 18th and 19th centuries.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A hymn to indigo poetics, <\/span>Blue Magic<\/strong><\/em> speculates and reimagines questions about the exhibited quilts, their materials, and their original makers, inviting shared remembrance of matrilineal wisdom and many historically marginalized voices. This immersive environment is an opportunity to honor Black contributions to textile history, particularly West Africa\u2019s enduring ties to cultural practices such as tie-dyeing, sewing, embroidering, and quilting, traditions that continue to flourish across the United States today.<\/span><\/p>\n

This one-day-only live program is conceived and performed by <\/span>Alexandria Eregbu<\/strong>. Organized by Mathilde Walker-Billaud, AFAM Curator of Programs and Engagement.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Schedule<\/strong><\/b><\/p>\n

Alexandria Eregbu\u2019s sonic and textile environment will be accessible to all gallery visitors throughout the day, from 11:30am to 7:00p.m.<\/p>\n

The artist will activate the installation at the following times:<\/p>\n

12:00 pm\u20131:00 pm \u2014 Invocation & Opening Ceremony<\/strong><\/b><\/p>\n

Artist Alexandria Eregbu brings the galleries to life with a powerful blend of spoken word and ambient sound, drawing inspiration from the quilts\u2019 vibrant blues, rich cotton textures, and intricately dyed patterns.<\/p>\n

4:00 pm\u20135:15 pm \u2014 Artist Talk with Dr Chelsea Frazier<\/strong><\/b><\/p>\n

In conversation with Dr Chelsea Frazier, Eregbu guides us through the conception of Blue Magic<\/i>, discussing how her textile and sound installation responds to the exhibition An Ecology of Quilts: The Natural History of American Textiles<\/i> with an eco-critical and Black feminist lens on the Museum’s textile collection.<\/p>\n

6:00 pm\u20137:00 pm \u2014 Evening Ritual & Closing Performance<\/strong><\/b><\/p>\n

Using the quilts on view and their material ecologies as a tactile feedback loop, the artist performs an original composition of field recordings, sampled media, and folk music, pulling visitors into a space resonant with pulses and memories.<\/p>\n

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Program Notes<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Click here<\/a> to download the program notes.<\/p>\n

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Visual Documentation<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Click here<\/a> to watch an excerpt from “Invocation & Opening Ceremony”<\/p>\n

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\nClick here<\/a> to watch a second excerpt from “Invocation & Opening Ceremony”<\/p>\n

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\nClick here<\/a> to watch an excerpt from the Artist Talk with Dr Chelsea Frazier<\/p>\n

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About the artist<\/strong><\/p>\n

Alexandria Eregbu<\/strong> is an independent curator and cultural practitioner working at the intersections of art and music.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As a visual artist her artwork engages a combination of archival images, symbols, proverbs, and folklore to invoke ancestral memory in African-American existence. She creates textiles, paintings, sculpture, and performances to bridge nature, design, healing, and ecology. She uses materials like beads, indigo, cowrie shells, wood, and feathers and processes like embroidery, appliqu\u00e9, natural dyeing, drawing, and quilting to make meaning with the unseen.<\/span><\/p>\n

As DJ FINDING IJEOMA, Alexandria blends distinct methods of sampling, mixing, and archival audio to amplify femme voices, invoke Black memory, and honor the tradition of storytelling within global dance music culture. Rooted in Chicago\u2019s sonic legacy, her practice embodies a deep reverence for rhythm, ritual, and collective gathering.<\/span><\/p>\n

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About the speaker<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dr. Chelsea Mikael Frazier is a scholar working at the intersection of Black feminist literature and theory and the environmental humanities. Her scholarship, teaching, and public speaking span the fields of Black feminist literature and theory, visual culture, ecocriticism, African art and literature, political theory, science and technology studies, and Afrofuturism.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She is currently at work on her first book manuscript\u2014an ecocritical study of contemporary Black women artists, writers, and activists. In her analyses, she probes the ways that dominant theoretical and disciplinary frameworks in environmental studies obscure the legibility of what she calls a Black feminist ecoethic as it manifests in Black women\u2019s environmental writing, visual art, and activism across the African diaspora.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Dr. Frazier\u2019s research has been generously supported by the Northwestern University<\/span> Presidential Society of Fellows<\/span><\/a>, the<\/span> Science in Human Culture program<\/span><\/a> at Northwestern, the<\/span> Buffett Institute for Global Studies<\/span><\/a>, the<\/span> Social Science Research Council<\/span><\/a>, the<\/span> Alumni Association of Barnard College<\/span><\/a>, the<\/span> Purdue University Lynn Fellowship<\/span><\/a>, and the<\/span> Mellon Mays Fellowship program<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0 Her published work appears in the Journal of Critical Ethnic Studies and in the edited volume Ecologies, Agents, Terrains from Yale University Press<\/span><\/p>\n

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Images\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Views of\u00a0Blue Magic<\/span>, a sonic textile environment conceived by Alexandria Eregbu in response to the exhibition An Ecology of Quilts: The Natural History of American Textiles<\/em>, on view at the American Folk Art Museum from September 26, 2025 to March 1, 2026. Photos by Jane Kratochvil.<\/p>\n

Credit<\/strong><\/div>\n
This project was supported, in part, by a Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant.<\/div>\n

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Registration<\/strong><\/p>\n

Free, and open to all.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Advance registration for the performances and talk is appreciated. Please consider making a donation when you register to support ongoing programming.<\/span><\/p>\n

Please note: Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis (even for those who have registered) and will be limited to the legal capacity of our venue.<\/span><\/p>\n

This program takes place in the Museum\u2019s Atrium on the first floor. All bags are subject to security bag check upon arrival to the Museum. Please plan to arrive at least 15 minutes before the scheduled start time. All backpacks must be left in complimentary lockers, located within the Shop.<\/span><\/p>\n

For specific accommodation questions or needs, please contact us at least 10 days prior to the program at publicprograms@folkartmuseum.org.<\/span><\/p>\n

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