NEW YORK, September 25, 2025 – The American Folk Art Museum announced today the creation of the Deborah Davenport and Stewart Stender Curator of Folk Art position, made possible thanks to a landmark $3 million gift from longtime AFAM patrons and supporters, Deborah Davenport and Stewart Stender. Effective immediately, the inaugural recipient of the new title will be Emelie Gevalt who, as Deborah Davenport and Stewart Stender Deputy Director & Chief Curatorial and Program Officer, will continue her oversight of the Museum’s historical art collections as curator of folk art.
The establishment of this position marks one of the most significant individual financial contributions in the history of the American Folk Art Museum. The newly named role joins several other named positions at the Museum, including the Becky and Bob Alexander Director & CEO, held by Jason T. Busch, which was established in 2022 by patrons and art collectors Becky and Bob Alexander of Rogers, Arkansas.
The naming of the Curator of Folk Art position is a timely commitment to historical American folk art. As the American Folk Art Museum reopens this month with An Ecology of Quilts: The Natural History of American Textiles (September 26, 2025 – March 1, 2026), following a planned closure for the most significant renovations at its Lincoln Square home in more than 30 years, the announcement of this gift reinforces the Museum’s importance as a leader in the presentation and promotion of historical American folk art.
The Museum’s dedication to historical American folk art will only deepen the public’s understanding of American art and culture as celebrations commence next year for America’s 250th anniversary. The bicentennial in 1976 marked a watershed moment in the history of American folk art and its interpretation by scholars and the public. The 200th anniversary provided an opportunity for a reimagining of historic representation of American folk art and artists at the institutional level and set forward new ways for the public to understand America’s artistic history. Now, with the 250th anniversary on the horizon, historical American folk art will once again be the focus of reinterpretation in the 21st century. The creation of the Deborah Davenport and Stewart Stender Curator of Folk Art position provides critical funding for the long-term evolution of the public’s understanding of historical American folk art through scholarly research and public exhibition programming at the American Folk Art Museum for years to come.
Funded by longtime patrons Deborah Davenport and Stewart Stender, who are based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the dedication of this role encapsulates their lifelong commitment to historical American folk art, as well as their longtime support of the American Folk Art Museum. Among their contributions to AFAM, Davenport and Stender have provided critical support to exhibitions, such as American Weathervanes: The Art of the Winds (June 23, 2021 – January 2, 2022), which was the first exhibition in more than four decades to highlight the beauty, historical significance, and technical virtuosity of American weathervanes created from the late 18th to the early 20th centuries. This gift also serves as a capstone to a 25-year friendship with Jason Busch, established on first meeting him when he was a curator at the Minneapolis Institute of Art.
For more than 40 years, Davenport and Stender have immersed themselves in the history of American folk art. Both are members of the American Folk Art Society, a grant-making membership organization founded in 1978 to foster understanding and appreciation of historical American folk art. Their passion is reflected in the impressive and wide-ranging collection they built over decades, spanning numerous categories and areas, from furniture and portraits and miniatures to weathervanes and watercolor memorials. Works from their collection have been exhibited at various museums nationwide, and they have also made significant donations of works of art from their collection, including gifts to the American Folk Art Museum, the Rhode Island Historical Society, and the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum at Colonial Williamsburg.
Their philanthropic support of institutions whose missions are near and dear to them also includes significant financial contributions to the Mystic Seaport Museum in Connecticut and the Minneapolis Institute of Art, where Davenport and Stender established endowments dedicated to the acquisition of historical American folk art.
Jason T. Busch, Becky and Bob Alexander Director & CEO, commented on the gift: “When we first met more than two decades ago, I knew Deb and Stew were kindred spirits, and I have always been deeply impressed by their unwavering commitment to historical American folk art. As the nation’s museum of folk and self-taught art, AFAM is honored to receive such an historic and transformative gift that will further our position as the leading forum for the presentation and interpretation of folk art.”
Deborah Davenport and Stewart Stender remarked: “We are extremely proud to support the American Folk Art Museum with this gift, as it reflects our shared commitment to the importance of folk art in preserving cultural heritage and inspiring future generations of enthusiasts. Folk art speaks to the creativity and resilience of our communities, and we could think of no better partner than AFAM in ensuring the celebration and appreciation of folk art continues to flourish.”