{"18":{"ID":36031,"post_type":"programs","title":"Can Craft Save America?","content":"","status":"publish","date":"2026-04-08 22:34:10","name":"can-craft-save-america","parent":0,"modified":"2026-08-07 18:20:10","series?":"Program","category":{"term_id":40,"name":"Discussions","slug":"discussions","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":40,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":18,"count":0,"filter":"raw"},"main_image":{"ID":36032,"id":36032,"title":"banner design-Final","filename":"banner-design-Final.jpg","filesize":152628,"url":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/banner-design-Final.jpg","link":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/programs\/can-craft-save-america\/banner-design-final\/","alt":"","author":"30","description":"","caption":"","name":"banner-design-final","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":36031,"date":"2026-04-08 22:30:08","modified":"2026-04-08 22:30:08","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\/04\/banner-design-Final-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/banner-design-Final-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/banner-design-Final-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/banner-design-Final.jpg","large-width":1920,"large-height":1080,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/banner-design-Final-1536x864.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":864,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/banner-design-Final.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1080}},"list_image":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/banner-design-Final.jpg","headline":"Can Craft Save America? ","di_date":"2026-08-04","excerpt":"

Join Americanist and art historian Angela Miller, artist Sunny A. Smith, and craft educator and curator Namita Gupta Wiggers for a conversation on folk art, history, and nation-building.<\/span><\/p>\n

Watch a recording of this program online<\/span> here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","start_time":"1:00 pm","end_time":"2:30 pm","admission":"Virtual; free with registration","main_content":"

From weathervanes and trade signs to quilts, carvings, and painted portraiture, American folk art encompasses a wide range of handicraft practices dating back to the 17th century that symbolize ingenuity, independence, and pride, key values of American identity. The term, which emerged in the early twentieth century, has evolved over time, reflecting changes in the nation\u2019s idealized sense of self and its aspirations for the future.<\/span><\/p>\n

The program “Can Craft Save America?” looks closely at the intersections between the handmade and nation-building. It takes its name from Namita Gupta Wiggers\u2019 <\/span>2021 review<\/span><\/a> for the journal <\/span>Metropolis<\/span><\/i>, in which she noted a lack of historical and political depth in recent museum exhibitions connecting craft to national identity. At a time of institutional reckoning, when museums are increasingly called upon to advance diversity, equity, and justice, Wiggers invited us to expand our questioning of the handmade and think more critically about which objects are included, the stories they tell, and the people they represent.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On the occasion of the United States\u2019 semiquincentennial (250th anniversary) and the exhibition <\/span>Folk Nation: Crafting Patriotism in the United States<\/span><\/i><\/a> at the American Folk Art Museum, Wiggers will revisit this pressing question with Americanist and art historian Angela Miller and artist Sunny A. Smith. Together, they will trace the emergence of American folk art as both a heritage-collecting movement and an artistic category, highlighting the field\u2019s ability to both reflect and complicate our historical understanding of the American nation.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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

Dr. Angela Miller<\/strong> writes on the cultural histories of the arts in the U.S., with a focus on the 20<\/span>th<\/span> century. In 2008, she launched a team of five leading scholars in the field to produce <\/span>American Encounters<\/span><\/i>, a downloadable survey of the arts in the United States and its antecedents. Her essay \u201c\u2019The People Looks Upon Its Own Life\u2019: Self-Taught Art between the Wars\u201d (2022)\u2014looks at the role of self-taught art in building democracy during a decade that witnessed the rise of fascism in Europe and the U.S. She also contributed to public programming for the American Folk Art Museum\u2019s 2022-23 exhibition on Morris Hirshfield. Miller has just completed a book on the queer circle of artists and writers around Lincoln Kirstein–best known as the founder of the New York City Ballet–in the years around World War II. She is Professor Emerita (Fall 2025) at Washington University in St. Louis.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sunny A. Smith<\/strong> is a queer, trans* nonbinary artist, educator, and institutional leader whose work investigates how history is constructed, remembered, and contested. Based in Yelamu and Huchiun (San Francisco Bay Area) on unceded Ohlone territory, Smith engages with craft, material culture, and collective storytelling to explore the power of objects in shaping historical narratives. Smith\u2019s work has been widely exhibited, including at P.S.1\/MoMA, SFMOMA, The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, MASS MoCA, and Palais de Tokyo, and is included in the permanent collections of institutions such as the Whitney Museum of American Art, UCLA Hammer Museum, and LACMA. <\/span><\/p>\n

As an educator and institutional leader, Smith has spent over 25 years shaping arts education to ensure that curricula, museums, and archives reflect a more expansive and inclusive vision of history. For seventeen years, they served as Professor and more recently as Dean of Fine Arts (2018 – 2025) at California College of the Arts. Smith recently transitioned from higher education to become the next Executive Director and CEO of Creative Growth Art Center in Oakland, California.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/b>Namita Gupta Wiggers<\/strong> is a writer, educator, curator, and artist based in Portland, OR. She currently teaches in the MFA in Social Practice, Portland State University. Wiggers founded, directed and taught in the MA in Critical Craft Studies, Warren Wilson College, the first and only low residency program focused on critical craft histories and theory from 2017 – 2023. She was awarded a Senior Fellow, Smithsonian Institution in 2024, and a Paul J. Smith Fields of the Future Fellow at Bard Graduate Center, NYC in 2023 to support her research on contemporary craft museums in the 21st Century. Recent publications include a special issue of the Journal of Modern Craft focused on the MA in Critical Craft Studies (Vol. 17, Issue 1, 2024) with Tom Martin, and This is not a Retreat, co-edited with Ben Lignel for The MACR Papers. In 2026, Wiggers was voted into the College of Fellows, American Craft Council. Wiggers served on the Board of Trustees, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts (2016-2025) and is currently on the Advisory Board, The Journal of Modern Craft. Wiggers directs and co-founded Critical Craft Forum (since 2008), and served as the Director and Chief Curator, Museum of Contemporary Craft, Portland OR from 2004 – 2014. American-born of South Asian heritage, her work combines platform building roles with prior experiences as a museum educator, design researcher, and studio jeweler to understand craft and culture.<\/span><\/p>\n

This program is organized by Mathilde Walker-Billaud, AFAM Curator of Programs and Engagement.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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

Left: Uncle Sam Riding a Bicycle Whirligig, Probably New York State, 1880\u20131920. Paint on wood with metal, 37 x 55 1\/2 x 11 in.. American Folk Art Museum Collection, Gift of Dorothea and Leo Rabkin<\/span><\/p>\n

Center: Figured Doublecloth Coverlet, Possibly Dover, New York, 1829. Cotton and wool, 98 3\/4 x 73 in. American Folk Art Museum Collection, Gift of Birgit Lorentzen<\/span><\/p>\n

Right: Exhibition view of <\/span>Sunny A. Smith: The Compass Rose<\/span><\/i> at the Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture\u00a0 (13 January – 12 March 2023). Photo credit Josef Jacques.\u00a0<\/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

Instructions for joining with a Zoom link and password will be provided by email upon registration confirmation under \u201cAdditional Information.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Closed captioning will be provided in English.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For questions or to request accessibility accommodations, please email <\/span>publicprograms@folkartmuseum.org<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n","show_in_past_programs":true,"reserve_text":"WATCH HERE","reserve_link":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/UiUI0AO-O8c","day":"04","month":"Aug","year":"2026","link":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/programs\/can-craft-save-america\/"},"33":{"ID":36026,"post_type":"programs","title":"Worlds In-Between: The Art of Charlie Willeto","content":"","status":"publish","date":"2026-04-08 22:28:08","name":"worlds-in-between-the-art-of-charlie-willeto","parent":0,"modified":"2026-07-08 18:38:03","series?":"Program","category":{"term_id":40,"name":"Discussions","slug":"discussions","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":40,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":18,"count":0,"filter":"raw"},"main_image":{"ID":36027,"id":36027,"title":"banner willeto-final","filename":"banner-willeto-final.jpg","filesize":113905,"url":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/banner-willeto-final.jpg","link":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/programs\/worlds-in-between-the-art-of-charlie-willeto\/banner-willeto-final\/","alt":"","author":"30","description":"","caption":"","name":"banner-willeto-final","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":36026,"date":"2026-04-08 22:24:38","modified":"2026-04-08 22:24:38","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\/04\/banner-willeto-final-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/banner-willeto-final-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/banner-willeto-final-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/banner-willeto-final.jpg","large-width":1920,"large-height":1080,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/banner-willeto-final-1536x864.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":864,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/banner-willeto-final.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1080}},"list_image":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/banner-willeto-cropped-final.jpg","headline":"Worlds In-Between: The Art of Charlie Willeto","di_date":"2026-07-01","excerpt":"

Join artist Patrick Dean Hubbell, historian Jennifer Nez Denetdale and curator Ninabah Reid Winton\u00a0 for a conversation on Charlie Willeto, a Din\u00e9 sculptor and medicine man.<\/span><\/p>\n

Watch a recording of this program online<\/span> here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","start_time":"1:00 pm","end_time":"2:30 pm","admission":"Virtual; free with registration","main_content":"

Charlie Willeto spent his life in <\/span>Din\u00e9 Bik\u00e9yah<\/span><\/i>, the homeland of the Din\u00e9 people (Navajo Nation). A <\/span>Hat\u00e1\u00e1\u0142ii<\/span><\/i> (medicine man), Willeto exchanged his hand-painted, doll-like wooden carvings for goods at trading posts neighboring his home in New Mexico. Drawing from Din\u00e9 ceremonial traditions (yet modifying forms and symbols for a secular Western context), his stylized sculptures speak to his experience as a healer, community member, and artist of profound vision and wit.<\/span><\/p>\n

The American Folk Art Museum invites you to a conversation celebrating Willeto\u2019s legacy, with artist <\/span>Patrick Dean Hubbell<\/strong>, <\/b>historian <\/span>Jennifer Nez Denetdale<\/strong> and curator <\/span>Ninabah Reid Winton<\/strong>. Together, they will examine Willeto\u2019s work, currently on view in the collection-based exhibitions <\/span>Self-Made: A Century of Inventing Artists<\/span><\/i><\/a> and<\/span> Folk Nation: Crafting Patriotism in the United States<\/span><\/i><\/a>, through the lens of Din\u00e9 history, philosophy and art.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This conversation offers a unique look at the intersections of artmaking, healing, and resistance within a Din\u00e9 context. It\u2019s an opportunity to learn how Willeto mediated his position as both artist and healer in mid-twentieth-century America, navigating the sacred and the secular, Din\u00e9 and settler value systems, as well as Native and Western aesthetic traditions.<\/span><\/p>\n

This program is organized by Mathilde Walker-Billaud, AFAM Curator of Programs and Engagement.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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

Patrick Dean Hubbell<\/b> <\/a>is originally from Navajo, New Mexico, located on the Navajo Nation, Southwest United States. He is a recent MFA graduate from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois. He currently lives and works on the Navajo Nation.\u00a0 His work is an exploration of his Dine\u2019 and Indigenous identity and journey within the contemporary moment. The foundation of his practice is inspired by cultural methodologies, references to traditional Indigenous art and philosophy and the abstractness of language, nature, time, and place. Incorporating a variety of mediums, including natural earth pigment collected from his Dine\u2019 homelands, and two-dimensional painting and drawing mediums, his work aims to challenge the imposition of categorizations and to amplify aspects of Indigenous identity within the western ideologies of contemporary art. The physical, mental, emotional and spiritual aspects of his life are translated through a combination of intuitive, gestural mark making, automatic drawing, and design. Using both elements of traditional substrate and incorporating sculptural elements of display, the two dimensional surface format recontextualizes figurative entities of abstraction. By expanding the principles and aesthetics of the western canon, his work seeks to redefine the visibility of the Indigenous experience.<\/span><\/p>\n

As the first-ever Din\u00e9\/Navajo to earn a Ph.D. in history, <\/span>Dr. Jennifer Nez Denetdale<\/strong> is a strong advocate for Indigenous peoples and strives to foster academic excellence in the next generation of students devoted to supporting Indigenous nations and their claims to sovereignty. Denetdale is a Professor of American Studies at the University of New Mexico and teaches courses in Critical Indigenous Studies, Indigenous Feminisms & Gender, Indigenous Films, Din\u00e9 Studies, and Southwest Studies. Her book, <\/span>Reclaiming Din\u00e9 History: The Legacies of Navajo Chief Manuelito and Juanita<\/span><\/i>, was published by the University of Arizona Press in 2007 and set the standard for Din\u00e9 histories and methodologies. Her book for young adults, <\/span>The Long Walk: The Forced Exile of the Navajo<\/span><\/i>, was published by Chelsea House in 2007. She was appointed to the Navajo Nation Human Rights Commission as a commissioner by the Navajo Nation Council and now serves as the Commission\u2019s chair. As a Din\u00e9 feminist, she is an advocate for Navajo women and the LGBTQI2S community. She has been recognized for her scholarship and service to her nation and community with several awards, including the Rainbow Naatsiilid True Colors for her support and advocacy on behalf of the Navajo LGBTQI2S and the UNM Faculty of Color Award for her teaching, research and service in the academy. In 2013, she was awarded the UNM Sarah Brown Belle award for service to her community. In the spring of 2015, she was recognized for Excellence in Din\u00e9 Studies by the Navajo Studies Conference, Inc. In 2017, she was awarded the UNM Presidential Award of Distinction. She is also very proud to have been selected to deliver the inaugural address before the 23rd Navajo Nation Council upon their inauguration in January 2015. She was recognized for her scholarly achievements and commitment to community service by Northern Arizona University with the Dwight Patterson Alumni of the Year Award and the NAU Cal Seciwa Award, both in 2022.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ninabah Reid Winton<\/strong> (Din\u00e9) <\/span>is an independent curator and scholar of contemporary art. Winton is a current MA Candidate in Art History at the Herberger Institute of Design and the Arts at Arizona State University and advisor to the ASU School of Art and Dreamscape Learn. Winton has served on the curatorial team of exhibitions including <\/span>Color Riot! How Color Changed Navajo Textiles <\/span><\/i>(Heard Museum, 2018), <\/span>Looking at Us: Examining Institutional Critique<\/span><\/i> (Idyllwild Arts Foundation, 2022), <\/span>Seral Bodies<\/span><\/i>, (Northlight Gallery, 2023), <\/span>Making Visible<\/span><\/i> (Arizona State University Art Museum, 2022), and curated<\/span> Everything is a Little Fuzzy<\/span><\/i> (Arizona State University Art Museum, 2023). Winton\u2019s research interests center on contemporary craft and design with an emphasis on material and craft economies, sound and audio art, as well as textile and fiber-based production. Winton lives and works in Phoenix, Arizona, working with collector and textile specialist Carol Ann Mackay and Ann Marshall, the Heard\u2019s Director of Research.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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

Left: Charlie Willeto (1897 or 1906\u20131964), Untitled, Near Chaco Canyon, Navajo Nation, New Mexico, 1961\u20131964. Paint and feather on cottonwood and pine with metal and rope. 26 1\/4 x 6 x 6 1\/4 in. American Folk Art Museum, New York, Gift of Audrey B. Heckler<\/span><\/p>\n

Center: Charlie Willeto (1897 or 1906\u20131964, Nageezi, Navajo Nation, New Mexico)<\/span><\/p>\n

Untitled, Near Chaco Canyon, Navajo Nation, New Mexico, 1961\u20131964. Paint and cotton on cottonwood and pine, 16 x 7 1\/2 x 2 3\/4 in. American Folk Art Museum, New York, Gift of Audrey B. Heckler<\/span><\/p>\n

Right: Patrick Dean Hubbell (1986, Navajo Nation, New Mexico) <\/span>You Guided Our Prayers For Generations, We Will Continue To Persevere<\/span><\/i>, 2025. Oil, Acrylic, Acrylic Dispersion, Enamel, Oil Stick, Oil Pastel, Charcoal, Sharpie, Marker, Pen and Ink, Enamel Spray, Natural Earth Pigment, Synthetic Polymer, Staples, Horse Hair, Leather, Buckskin, Commercial Tanned Deer Hide, Cut Seed Beads, Synthetic Textile, Paper, Sewing, Canvas,105 x 62 in. Courtesy of the artist.\u00a0<\/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

Instructions for joining with a Zoom link and password will be provided by email upon registration confirmation under \u201cAdditional Information.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Closed captioning will be provided in English.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For questions or to request accessibility accommodations, please email <\/span>publicprograms@folkartmuseum.org<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n","show_in_past_programs":true,"reserve_text":"WATCH HERE","reserve_link":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=JJwELWeHl0M&feature=youtu.be","day":"01","month":"Jul","year":"2026","link":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/programs\/worlds-in-between-the-art-of-charlie-willeto\/"},"37":{"ID":36022,"post_type":"programs","title":"Dialogue + Studio: Meditative Grids with Susan Janow","content":"","status":"publish","date":"2026-04-08 22:14:03","name":"dialogue-studio-meditative-grids-with-susan-janow","parent":0,"modified":"2026-05-28 23:09:27","series?":"Program","category":{"term_id":27,"name":"Workshops","slug":"workshop","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":27,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":18,"count":0,"filter":"raw"},"main_image":{"ID":36023,"id":36023,"title":"banner design(5)","filename":"banner-design5.jpg","filesize":176399,"url":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/banner-design5.jpg","link":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/programs\/dialogue-studio-meditative-grids-with-susan-janow\/banner-design5\/","alt":"","author":"30","description":"","caption":"","name":"banner-design5","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":36022,"date":"2026-04-08 22:09:43","modified":"2026-04-08 22:09:43","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\/04\/banner-design5-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/banner-design5-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/banner-design5-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/banner-design5.jpg","large-width":1920,"large-height":1080,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/banner-design5-1536x864.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":864,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/banner-design5.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1080}},"list_image":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/banner-design5.jpg","headline":"Dialogue + Studio: Meditative Grids with Susan Janow ","di_date":"2026-06-25","excerpt":"

Join exhibition artist Susan Janow at AFAM for an interactive drawing workshop, where participants will experiment with ink and grids to create rhythmic, textural abstractions.<\/span><\/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.<\/div>\n","start_time":"6:00 pm","end_time":"8:00 pm","admission":"In-person; $12 members, students, artists, seniors; $15 general public","main_content":"

Artist Susan Janow is known for drawing intricate pen-and-ink grids. Starting with hand-drawn tables, she inserts crosshatched fine lines or blocks of color, leaving hints of negative space underneath. Part of a meditative and methodical practice, the resulting compositions read like personal pattern codes, organic Tetris games, or quilted curtains moving across the page. In this new edition of the Dialogue + Studio program, participants are invited to join Janow for a hands-on presentation and workshop inspired by the artist\u2019s methodical focus. We will experiment with ink markers, grids, and color to craft rhythmic and textural abstractions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This workshop is an exceptional opportunity to meet and learn from Janow, whose videos are included in the exhibition <\/span>Self-Made: A Century of Inventing Artists<\/span><\/i><\/a> at the American Folk Art Museum.<\/span> Based in Oakland and a member of the Creative Growth Art Center since 2003, Janow\u2019s practice is rooted in precise, intuitive, and introspective experimentation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Dialogue + Studio Workshop series offers participants opportunities to gain insight into and engage with self-taught art, past and present, at a deep level. Focused discussions about select themes, techniques, and materials featured in current exhibitions are paired with related expert-led hands-on workshops.<\/span><\/p>\n

This program is organized by Mathilde Walker-Billaud, AFAM Curator of Programs and Engagement.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Janow will also participate in a Closer-Look Tour<\/a> earlier in the day.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
About the Artist<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

A member of Creative Growth Art Center since 2003, Susan Janow\u2019s practice is expansive. The artist works with video, ink, ceramic, collage, woodwork and textile, and she is widely recognized for her short films created in Creative Growth\u2019s Digital Media Lab. Her artwork is in the permanent collections of the Brooklyn Museum, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), and the Centre Pompidou in Paris, France.<\/span><\/p>\n

Consult the artist\u2019s webpage here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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

Left: Susan Janow (b. 1980, San Francisco, California), <\/span>ANSWERS<\/span><\/i>, Creative Growth, Auckland, California, 2018. \u00a0 Single-channel video, 10 min. 6 sec. Courtesy of the artist and Creative Growth<\/span><\/p>\n

Right: Susan Janow (b. 1980, San Francisco, California), <\/span>Untitled<\/span><\/i>, Creative Growth, Auckland, California,\u00a0 2024. Sharpie on paper, 11.5 x 18 in. Courtesy of the artist and Creative Growth<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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

This program is organized in partnership with Creative Growth Art Center.<\/span><\/p>\n

Established in 1973, <\/span>Creative Growth Art Center <\/b>is an internationally recognized nonprofit based in Oakland, California. It is the world’s first independent art center dedicated to advancing the careers of artists with developmental, mental, and physical disabilities. Today, Creative Growth supports 140 artists, many of whom have sustained decades-long studio practices and exhibit widely in museums, galleries, and public collections around the world.<\/span><\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n

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

This program will take place at the American Folk Art Museum, located at 2 Lincoln Square, New York City. <\/span>This program is open to artists and creatives at all levels of training and experience. It is limited to 18 individuals.\u00a0<\/span>Advance registration is required.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tickets are $15 \/ $12 members, students, artists, seniors. <\/span>Materials will be provided.<\/span><\/p>\n

For questions or to request accessibility accommodations, please email <\/span>publicprograms@folkartmuseum.org<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n","show_in_past_programs":true,"reserve_text":"Register Here ","reserve_link":"https:\/\/www.eventbrite.com\/e\/dialogue-studio-meditative-grids-with-susan-janow-tickets-1986991305483?aff=oddtdtcreator","day":"25","month":"Jun","year":"2026","link":"https:\/\/folkartmuseum.org\/programs\/dialogue-studio-meditative-grids-with-susan-janow\/"},"57":{"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\/"},"63":{"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\/"},"67":{"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\/"},"69":{"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

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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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