The exhibition Somewhere to Roost takes inspiration from the artistic practice of Thornton Dial, Sr., whose poetically-entitled work, “Birds Got to Have Somewhere to Roost,” invites us to consider the importance of sanctuary, comfort and safety for everyone. 

In this program, exhibition curator Brooke Wyatt walks us through the exhibition Somewhere to Roost, inviting viewers to contemplate a range of objects including painting and sculpture, furniture, quilts, and photographs. Highlighting how works by self-taught and folk artists evoke a sense of home, this curatorial walkthrough will provide further reflections on the spaces where artists from the AFAM collection live(d) and work(ed) while conjuring imaginary places that assert the importance of rest, safety and ecological care. 

Somewhere to Roost is the third in a series of thematic shows drawn from the Museum’s collection that runs from March 2023 to May 2025. These exhibitions invite viewers to admire the museum’s collection up close while showcasing an expansive history of American art.

About the speaker

Brooke Wyatt is Luce Assistant Curator at the American Folk Art Museum where she is working on a series of exhibitions drawn from the Museum’s collection of folk and self-taught art. She practiced as a clinical therapist in community mental health settings and worked as an art teacher before beginning her PhD in the History of Art and Architecture at the University of Pittsburgh. Brooke’s doctoral dissertation, titled “Séraphine Louis and Self-Taught Art in Transatlantic Modernist Discourse,” explores the material and representational strategies of the French artist Séraphine Louis, foregrounding how histories of race, gender, class, and disability have shaped the reception and exhibition of Louis’s work across Europe and the Americas from the late 1920s to the present day.

Registration

Space is limited; advance registration is required. Please consider making a donation when you register to support ongoing virtual programming.

Instructions for joining with a Zoom link and password will be provided by email upon registration confirmation under “Additional Information.” Closed captioning will be provided in English. For questions or to request accessibility accommodations, please email publicprograms@folkartmuseum.org.

Credits

Somewhere to Roost is generously supported by a grant from the Henry Luce Foundation. Presented in the Daniel Cowin Gallery – originally established by Trustee Joyce Berger Cowin in memory of her husband, also a Trustee and champion of the Museum, it includes recently acquired works, including selections from the Audrey B. Heckler collection, and gifts from Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz, Peter J. Cohen, and Willett Bracken Evans.

Images

(L) Thornton Dial Sr. (1928–2016), Birds Got to Have Somewhere to Roost, Bessemer, Alabama, 2012. Wood, carpet scraps, corrugated tin, burlap, nails, and enamel on wood, 61 1/4 × 48 × 10″. Gift of the Thornton Dial Family, 2013.6.1.Photo by Stephen Pitkin / Pitkin Studio © 2016 Estate of Thornton Dial. (R) Mozell Benson, (1934–2012), Strip Variation Quilt, Opelika, Alabama, 1991, Cotton with wool and synthetic yarns, 88 × 70 1/2 in., American Folk Art Museum, New York, museum purchase made possible in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, with matching funds from the Great American Quilt Festival 3, 1991.13.9.