A Different Perspective
Jacksonville museum launches American folk art exhibit
“American Perspectives: Stories from the American Folk Art Museum Collection” opened on Friday, Feb. 11 at Jacksonville’s Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens. The exhibit celebrates American folk art and artists.
Showcasing more than 80 works of art dating from the 18th century to modern day, by artists hailing from across the country, the exhibit’s launch has been a long-awaited event for the museum’s curatorial team.
New York-based American Folk Art Museum organized the exhibit, supported by Art Bridges, a foundation devoted to “creating and supporting programs that expand access to American art in all regions across the nation.”
“What the curatorial team at the American Folk Art Museum was setting out to do was to celebrate the stories and the perspectives of people who aren’t necessarily in the history books,” said Holly Keris, J. Wayne & Delores Barr Weaver Chief Curator.
She went on to explain that folk art is, at its core, sharing a story — a perspective — and in doing so, it creates a space for two people — the artist and the viewer — to share a moment of connection and exchange.
“It’s that give and take — whether your story is like mine or your story is not like mine — that’s what makes a community” Keris added. “That’s what makes a nation: It’s that confluence of these layered stories and perspectives that makes us better and richer and celebrates that diversity and that’s really the underpinning of what you see in the exhibition.”
Divided into four themes — Seekers, Travelers, Founders and Philosophers — the exhibit takes viewers on their own journey through American folk art, introducing them to artists who may not necessarily be household names but are no less deserving of our admiration of and appreciation for the works they’ve created.
Considering that the stories behind these pieces are just as important as the art itself, Keris stated that booklets have been assembled and provided at the gallery entrance for viewers to take with them through the exhibit in order to learn more than the “bare bones” facts — artist name, life dates, work title — provided on the plaques beside each artifact.
George W. and Kathleen I. Gibbs Director and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Andrea Barnwell Brownlee expressed her own excitement for the exhibit’s opening.
“It’s a really special project and we’re so excited about sharing it with the Jacksonville community,” she said. “We’re on the cusp of something really magical. We realize how art brings us together. This show is about similarities, it’s about perspectives…about stories. It’s about four different sections that bring us together to look at exceptional works of art.”
Museum-goers were already experiencing the exhibit during its opening weekend. Orange Park resident Gina Ledbetter wandered through the gallery on Sunday afternoon, pausing before a pair portraits by artist Sheldon Peck: Siblings Increase Bosworth and Abigail Munro Bosworth Simonds peered sternly back at her from their canvases.
Ledbetter was particularly struck by the wooden frames Peck painted around the borders of both canvases. Of the exhibit as a whole, she added, “I’m really enjoying it. I’m surprised over some of the pieces…There are a number of pieces that are really exciting.”
Recent Jacksonville transplant Nicole Harris was visiting Cummer Museum for the first time and said this exhibit “reminds you how talented Americans are.”
“We’re usually drawn to other museums and other countries, so hopefully it’ll just make people aware of what we have at home,” she added.
Celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens is a Jacksonville institution housing more than 5,000 artifacts in its permanent collection. The “American Perspectives” exhibit will remain on display for the public until May 22.
By Michele Leivas
Resident Community News
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading... 
