Thank you to the members who attended the Frida Kahlo Wall Hanging Workshop led by Meg Cox in January. Our first Year of the Quilt Workshops participants had a fantastic time and the results are beautiful. We have more workshops coming up this month, so be sure to sign up early.

Member Savings
Save 25% on Single Tickets to Folk Traditions II at Alice Tully Hall with code FOLKCMS.*

Folk Traditions II with Jeremy Denk
Tuesday, March 15, 7:30 pm

Antonín Dvořák, more than any other composer before him, successfully brought the music of his Czech homeland into the concert hall, blending folk tradition with art music. His works have endless, universal appeal, from his rollicking Slavonic Dances to the large-scale, fully realized Sextet in A Major. Selected short piano works by fellow countryman Bedřich Smetana provide context and a glimpse at Dvořák’s musical roots.

Info/tickets: www.chambermusicsociety.org/seasontickets/event/folk_traditions_ii_-_mar_15_2011

* Code is valid only online at www.ChamberMusicSociety.org or by phone at 212. 875. 5788; not applicable to previously purchased tickets; cannot be combined with other offers.

Perspectives: Forming the Figure (through August 2011)

The idea of character is thematically relevant to a deeper exploration of traditional folk art and the work of contemporary self-taught artists, a far-reaching field that pervades a broad spectrum of American culture and reflects many different communities. This exhibition, the second installment of the “Perspectives” series organized by the museum’s education department, examines some of the many facets of figure in works from the permanent collection. More >

Eugene Von Bruenchenhein (through October 9, 2011)

“Eugene Von Bruenchenhein: ‘Freelance Artist—Poet and Sculptor—Inovator—Arrow maker and Plant man—Bone artifacts constructor—Photographer and Architect—Philosopher’” focuses on the formal leitmotifs of leaves and floral patterns as organizing principles in Von Bruenchenhein’s multidisciplinary oeuvre. More >

Quilts: Masterworks from the American Folk Art Museum (Part I: through April 24, 2011; Part II: May 10–October 16, 2011)

Part I of this exhibition launched the Year of the Quilt, the museum’s celebration of a glorious American art form and the creative contributions of three centuries of talented women. Highlighting textile masterpieces in the collection, the presentations include recent gifts, bedcovers that have rarely been on view, and important cornerstones of the museum’s comprehensive quilt holdings. More >

Super Stars: Quilts from the American Folk Art Museum (through September 25, 2011, at the museum’s Branch Location at 2 Lincoln Square)

Quiltmakers have always sought inspiration from the world around them, introducing the outdoors into the domestic interior through bedcovers that may reflect the colors of the landscape, the imagery of flowers in a garden, or animal and insect life. These associations are explored in the exhibition “Super Stars,” which highlights the dazzling diversity of this variable pattern in more than one hundred years of quilt artistry. More >

Infinite Variety: Three Centuries of Red and White Quilts
March 25–30, 2011

For six days in March, the American Folk Art Museum will dramatically transform the Park Avenue Armory’s historic 55,000-square-foot Wade Thompson Drill Hall with the installation of 650 red and white American quilts, all of which are on loan from the collection of Joanna S. Rose. It will be the largest exhibition of quilts ever held in the city. As an extraordinary gift to the public, entry to this unprecedented event is free. A café and a book and gift shop will be open during show hours.

All tours and gallery programs are open to the public and free with museum admission. Info: 212. 265. 1040, ext. 381, or grouptours@folkartmuseum.org.

For a full calendar of tours and gallery programs, click here.

Outsider Art Weekend
Friday, February 11–Sunday, February 13
Outsider Art Weekend is presented by the museum’s Contemporary Center and education department each year in conjunction with the Outsider Art Fair. Organized by Lee Kogan.

Info/tickets: 212. 265. 1040, ext. 105 or www.folkartmuseum.org/oaw

Friday, February 11

4:30–5:15 pm
Nathan Lerner Annual Lecture
Speaker: Anna Panszczyk, 2010 Henry Darger Study Center Fellow
“Reading Ephemera (and Fairies) in the Artworks of Henry Darger”

6–8 pm
The Contemporary Center’s Visionary Award Ceremony
Honoring Sam Farber
By invitation

Sunday, February 13

10 am–noon
Uncommon Artists XIX: A Series of Cameo Talks
The Anne Hill Blanchard Symposium
Speakers:
Laurel Gitlin on Michael Patterson-Carver • Brett Littman on Eugene Von Bruenchenhein • Kendall Messick on Gordon Brinckle • Tom Whitehead on Clementine Hunter connoisseurship

1–2 pm
Film Screening: The Projectionist
Followed by a Q&A with filmmaker Kendall Messick
Photographer and filmmaker Kendall Messick’s documentary explores one man’s fascination with the golden age of the moving image and, in particular, the grand movie palace of the 1920s. Gordon Brinckle (1915–2007) was driven by a lifelong desire to hold on to and preserve this era; in the basement of his modest home in suburban Delaware, he lovingly constructed a fully functional, nine-seat “picture palace of renown” he called the Shalimar.

Outsider Art Weekend programming and activities are sponsored in part by Audrey B. Heckler and Margaret Z. Robson.

The museum is pleased to offer Folk Art Reflections, interactive and discussion-based programs for individuals with Alzheimer’s and their family members or caregivers. Twice every month, museum educators and docents explore a different theme or artist with the participants, bringing the world of folk art to life through conversation.

Info/registration: 212. 265. 1040, ext. 381. Registration required. Museum admission and program are free.

Folk Art Reflections is offered the first and third Thursday of every month.

Year of the Quilt Workshops: Simple Symmetry
Saturday, February 26
11 am–3 pm

Instructor: Paula Nadelstern, quilt artist
Learn how a single template and one intricately printed fabric can be used to create a complex quilt quickly. Paula Nadelstern’s technique explores and exploits the virtues of bilaterally symmetrical fabric. Participants will feel like they’re making magic when motifs connect to their respective mirror images, creating effects more wonderful than ever imagined. More>

Level: Beginner and Intermediate
Workshop fee: $50; $45 members, seniors, students
Materials fee: $26 (payable to instructor)
Registration: 212. 265. 1040, ext. 105 (space is limited)

Year of the Quilt Workshops: A Little Bit of Paradise
Saturday, March 5
11 am–3 pm

Instructor: Diane Schneck, quiltmaker
Make your own small appliqué quilt based on a block from the museum’s iconic Bird of Paradise Quilt Top. The workshop will introduce participants to the back-basting method, which enables the production of perfect blocks without the use of templates. Also learn how to improve technique, make invisible stitches, and add embroidered details to a block. More>

Level: Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced
Workshop fee: $50; $45 members, seniors, students
Registration: 212. 265. 1040, ext. 105 (space is limited)

Collection Highlight

Eugene Andolsek (1921–2008) created thousands of ink drawings over the course of fifty years, rarely showing them to anyone and certain that they were not very interesting. He started drawing in 1950 after he saw an ink work at an art show. Perhaps as a means to cope with what are not uncommon challenges in life, Andolsek started a ritual of nightly drawing sessions at the kitchen table of his mother’s home. Using a straightedge and a compass, he would begin to compose the forms in his drawing. The artist described his process as methodical and orderly, but also trancelike in that the drawings just “came out” of him. He sometimes did not even remember putting stylus to paper. His recollection of “waking up sometimes and a drawing was there and I didn’t even know how it got there” points to the transcendent, meditative quality that the process of artmaking can lend to a maker.

Shop Highlight
“Love Is All You Need” Pillow

A perfect gift for Valentine’s Day (or any occasion), this cozy handhooked pillow is sure to add warmth and charm to any room. The pillow is made of 100 percent New Zealand wool and is designed by Laura Megroz. It has a zippered velveteen backing and comes complete with a pillow insert. Imported. 8 x 24 in.

Folk Art Challenge

Thanks to everyone who entered January’s Folk Art Fun contest and congratulations to our winner, Betty Parlish. Sam Doyle proudly shared his paintings in his yard, which he referred to as the “St. Helena Outdoor Art Gallery.”

This month’s challenge: Love tokens, often mistakenly called valentines, were given in affection on days other than February 14. In this exuberant example, fifteen hearts and six heart-and-hand motifs are applied in horizontal rows to a sheet of paper. The heart-and-hand is generally associated with love or friendship and probably originated from Valentine’s Day customs. In one tradition, a man gave a woman the gift of a glove, which she then wore in acceptance of his proffered love. In another, a woman gave a man her glove, which he then wore pinned to his sleeve for the duration of the day. What popular phrase derives its meaning from this tradition?

To win a copy of Painted Saws/Jacob Kass, e-mail your answer to Elizabeth Kingman at ekingman@folkartmuseum.org, with “Folk Art Fun” in the subject line.

The American Folk Art Museum is grateful to the following friends who provided generous support between July 1, 2009, and December 31, 2010:

$50,000 & Up
Allan Katz Americana/Penny & Allan Katz / Lawrence B. Benenson / Edward V. Blanchard Jr. / Barry D. Briskin / Stephen Corelli / Joyce B. Cowin / Louise & Edgar M. Cullman / Kendra & Allan Daniel / Lucy & Frederick M. Danziger / Deutsche Bank / Jacqueline Fowler / Audrey B. Heckler / Henry Luce Foundation / Yaz & Valentín Hernández / Marjorie & Robert L. Hirschhorn / Joan M. & Victor L. Johnson / Just Folk-Marcy Carsey/Susan Baerwald / Leir Charitable Foundations in memory of Henry J. & Erna D. Leir / Petra & Stephen A. Levin / Estate of Marian Naumburg / New York City Department of Cultural Affairs / Laura & Richard Parsons / Joanna S. & Daniel Rose / Donna & Marvin Schwartz / Bonnie & Thomas W. Strauss / Elizabeth V. & Irwin H. Warren

$20,000-$49,999
Edith S. Briskin / Arpad Busson / Chubb & Son / Citi / Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP / David L. Davies & Jack Weeden / Edens & Avant Investments LP / Edith & Herbert Lehman Foundation / The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. / Katherine Farley & Jerry Speyer / Sir Evelyn & Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild / Agnes Gund / Luise & Robert Kleinberg / Phyllis L. Kossoff / Latifa Kosta / Jerry Lauren / Frances Sirota Martinson / Connie & Andrew A. McElwee Jr. / New York State Council on the Arts / Susan & Donald Newhouse / Agnes Nixon / The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation / Leo Rabkin / Kathleen & John Ullmann / Barbara & L. John Wilkerson / Anne & Robert N. Wilson

$10,000-$19,999
Allen & Overy / American Express / American Folk Art Society / The Bank of New York Mellon / Bingham McCutchen LLP / Bloomberg / Bloomingdale's Fund of the Macy's Foundation / Citigroup Global Markets / Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton / Credit Suisse / Raffaella & Alberto Cribiore / Susan R. Cullman & John J. Kirby / Peggy & Dick Danziger / Vivian Donnelley / Betsey & Sam Farber / Gigi & M. Shafik Gabr / Patricia Geoghegan / Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP / Greenberg Traurig / Ellen E. Howe / Ned Jalbert / Kekst and Company Incorporated / Leigh Keno / Kx Systems, Inc. / Taryn & Mark Leavitt / Dorothy Lichtenstein / Wendy & Barry Meyer / Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP / Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP / Piper Jaffray / Rapaport Family Charitable Trust / Angela & Selig Sacks / Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP / Time Warner Inc. / Terrence Turner / Richard H. Walker / Sue Ann Weinberg / White & Case LLP

$5,000-$9,999
Munirah Alatas / Becky & Bob Alexander / Judy & John Angelo / Avenue of the Americas Association / Benetton Group US / Barbara & James A. Block / Sandi Bria / Yolanda & Alvin Brown / Henry M. Buhl / Barbara Bundy / Christie's / Ellen & Win Churchill / Abigail Congdon & Joseph Azrack / Ellie & Edgar Cullman Jr. / Terry L. Dale & Richard Barry / Patricia Deans / Gloria Einbender / Margot & John L. Ernst / Marilyn Friedman & Thomas Block / Robert Froelich / Rebecca & Michael S. Gamzon / Sherry Hayslip & Cole Smith / John R. & Dorothy D. Caples Fund / Kristina Johnson / Eleanora & Michael J. Kennedy / Drs. Nancy Kollisch & Jeffrey H. Pressman / Barbara & David Krashes / Jo Carole & Ronald S. Lauder / Betty & John Levin / Levin Capital Strategies / Anne & Vincent Mai / MetLife / Kay & George H. Meyer / The Overbrook Foundation / Peter J. Solomon Company / Peter J. Solomon Family Foundation / Barbara J. Riley / David Rockefeller / Scott Sanders / Kristy & Steve M. Scott / Sotheby's / Marisela & Cary Staller / Ellen & David Stein / Joan F. Tobin / Xerox Foundation

$2,000-$4,999
Joseph H. Allerhand / Didi & David Barrett / Kim & Stephen Bepler / Joan & Robert A. Bernhard / George Bissell Jr. / Adele Block / Berry Bloomingdale & Stephen Keller / Justine & Robert R. Bloomingdale / The Bonnie Cashin Fund / Jill & Sheldon Bonovitz / Marilyn W. Bottjer / Richard Braemer / Judy & Bernard Briskin / Laurie Krasny Brown & Marc Brown / Mario Buatta / Marjorie B. Buckley / Carolyn Chen / Lisa Cholnoky & Richard Levine / Peyton Cochran / Phyllis D. Collins / Cullman & Kravis, Inc. / Judy & Aaron Daniels / Gary Davenport / Michaela & Joseph Deiss / Fiona & Stanley Druckenmiller / Joan & Robert J. Easton / The Echo Design Group, Inc. / Andrew Edlin / Judith & Anthony Evnin / Karin Fielding / Katherine Findlay / Amy Finkel / Margot & Norman Freedman / Gail Furman / Phebe & Louis Goodman / Barbara L. Gordon & W. Stephen Cannon / Chaz Guest / Addie J. Guttag / Olga & John Guttag / Ann & James Harithas / Marian Heiskell / The Helping Hand / Catherine & Richard Herbst / Karen & Ronald J. Herrmann / Hines Interests / Alexander Hitz / Glenn Horowitz / Barbara & Thomas C. Israel / Virginia Joffe / Joseph and Joan Cullman Foundation for the Arts, Inc. / Jaclyn & Gerald Kaminsky / Mariana & George Kaufman / Diane Keefe & John Levin / Helen & Steven Kellogg / Elizabeth & John Kingman / Lesley & John Koegel Esq. / Joyce Lacerte / Joyce and Edward Linde / Yvonne Liu / Cheryl & Ricardo Longoria / Charlene Marsh / Myron L. Mayer / Gillian McCain / Kathleen McGivney / Diahn & Tom McGrath / Andrew McMaster / Barbara & R. Alan Medaugh / Pamela & Michael A. Miles / Amy Munday / Cynthia & Donald B. Murphy / Jennifer Nelson / Emily Anne Nixon / Pam Nurenberg / Nancy & Morris Offit / Stephanie & Robert M. Olmsted / Patricia Parsons / Suzanne & Michael Payne / Anthony J. Petullo / Jonelle Procope / Roberta & Jack Rabin / Ricco/Maresca Gallery / Dr. Roger & Mrs. Alyce Rose / Sheila & Joseph B. Rosenblatt / Toni Lynn Ross / Richard Rubenstein / Patrica & Juan Ruiz-Healy / Jeanne & Robert Savitt / Linda & Donald Schapiro / Jean & Martin Shafiroff / Ann G. & Peter L. Sheldon / June & Ronald K. Shelp / Anne Sides / Mary Ann & Arthur Siskind / Skinner, Inc. / Jennifer & Jonathan Allan Soros / Su-Ellyn Stern & Andrew McMaster / Rachel & Donald Strauber / Dr. R. David Sudarsky & Frank Tosto / Taura Flynn & Associates LLC / David Teiger / Jayne & James Thompson / Ian Tobin / Lisa Tung & Spencer Glendon / Bonnie Turner / Jacqui Weld & Rodman Drake / Phyllis & Ira Wender / Barbara & Gerard C. Wertkin / Kelly M. Williams & Andrew Forsyth / Sarah & Louis S. Wolfe / Women's Caucus for Art / Rebecca & Jon N. Zoler / 3 Anonymous Donors

$1,000-$1,999
Margaret Ajemian Ahnert / Jody & John Arnhold / Nan Bases / Anne H. Bass / Tania Batley / Mary F. Beck / Benenson Capital Partners LLC / Susan & Jonathan Berg / Polly Bloomingdale / Virgina & Dan W. Boone III / Michael O. Braun / Roberto Camacho / Sharon Casdin / Beth Cathers & Jim McCounel / Cirque-tacular Entertainment / Claudia Cisneros / Jane Bloomingdale Cisneros / Angela & James Clair / DuPre & Moffett Cochran / Ben Cohen / Antonia G. Colon / Lewis B. Cullman / Alex Daniels / Sheena & David Danziger / Bette J. Davis & James Asselstine / Joan F. DeCoste / Doyle New York / Nancy & Michael Druckman / Larry E. Dumont / Shirley Durst / Kenneth Edlow / Elizabeth H. Eisen / Eva & Morris Feld Fund / Bobbie & Robert Falk / Jeanne Donovan Fisher / Susan & Henry Fradkin / Joan & Michael Frankel / Emily Frick / Irene & Richard Gachot / Jill Gallagher / Gallery Systems, Inc. / Arlyn & Edward Gardner / Alice & Bruce Geismar / Barbara Gimbel / Barbara & Peter Goodman / Tracy Goodnow / Ellin & Baron J. Gordon / Joan & Donald J. Gordon / Gail Gregg / Henry E. Grimball Jr. / Vicki & Michael Gross / Michael Guttag / David Henderson / Samuel Herrup / Jonathan Hess / Peggy & Tom Hess / Pamela & Timothy Hill / Lesley & Joseph C. Hoopes / Kip Horsburgh / Thomas Isenberg / Paige & Todd M. Johnson / Penelope Johnston-Foote & Ray Foote / Jennifer Kalter / Keno Auctions / Carol A. Keyser / Jeffrey Klein / Stephanie & Ron Kramer / Nancy Lassalle / Michelle & Lawrence J. Lasser / Marta Jo Lawrence / Carol Sutton Lewis & William M. Lewis Jr. / Judith Lile / Susan & Martin Lipton / Jeanette Longoria / Frank Maresca / Marstrand Foundation / Russell Martin Jr. / Anne W. Miller / Virginia J. Mitchell / Barbara & Merrill Mulch / Deborah Neff / Loretta & Carl Neuman / Jeanette & Carl Nostra / Kevin O'Callaghan / Abby & George D. O'Neill / Liz & Jeff Peek / Ruth & Leonard Perfido / Christen & Duncan Pollock / Prestel Publishing / Michael J. Principe / Gertrude A. Quinn / Elizabeth Rad / Lisa & Gregg Rechler / Marguerite & Arthur Riordan / Patti & Michael Roberts / Helene & Jim Rosenthal / Marjorie P. Rosenthal / Hilary & Wilbur Ross / Evelyn & Robert Rothbard / Susan & Kenneth Sankin / Nancy & Charles Schaeffer / Anne & Alan Schnitzer / Sheila & Richard Schwartz / Albert E. Segall / Ellen & Joel Shapiro / Jean & Frederic Sharf / José Solís Betancourt & Paul Sherrill / Anita Grossman Solomon / Mary Solomon / Richard Soloway / Peter J. Sonnabend / Elizabeth A. Stern / Kathleen & Michael Stringer / Gary R. Sullivan / Nonie & John Sullivan / Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects LLP / Melissa & Gerald Uram / Siri von Reis / Naomi F. Waletzky / Ettie Ward / Joan Waricha / Jane & Floyd Warren / George Wein / Alan Weinschel / Giulia & Marc Weisman / Victoria Westhead / Rabbi David Whiman & Larry Whiman / Tracy & Marc Whitehead / Linda Wick / William Raveis Real Estate, Mortgage & Insurance / Mr. & Mrs. Witmer / Michelle & Robert Wyles / Judy F. Zankel

$500-$999
David Allaway & Deborah S. Kolar / Caralee Allsworth / Peg Alston & Willis Burton / Jean & Christopher Angell / Noah Antieau / Molly F. Ashby & Gerald M. Lodge / Shirley Baerwald / Beggars Group USA / Elliot Bekowitz / Bell-Guilmet Associates / Claire B. & Lawrence A. Benenson / Diane & Ira Berger / Deborah Bergman / Max N. Berry / Lynn & Peter Bienstock / Helen L. Bing / Lenore & Stephen Blank / James Bloomingdale / Louis H. Blumengarten / Douglas Bordon / Dr. & Mrs. Jeffrey S. Borer / Ronald Brickle / Lois P. Broder & Marvin Broder / Sally & Thatcher M. Brown III / Thomas Butterfield / Paul Cantelon / Gina Cedrone / Sherryl & Gerard Cohen / Brad Coleman / Maria Ann Conelli & Kim J. Hartswick / Susan Danilow / Darien Community Association, Inc. / Thomas Demarco / Ginger H. & Henry Richard Dietrich / Lynne Ditman & James Shure / Ralph H. Donnell / Deborah & Arnold Dunn / Sharon & Theodore Eisenstat / Elitzer Family Fund / Karen & Bruce Ellsweig / Stacey Facter / Ford Foundation / Karen & Jim Frank / Suzanne Frye / Galerie St. Etienne / Judy & Jules Garel / Lisa Goldberg / Laura & Mark Goldman / Mary & Harvey Goldschmid / Gomez Associates, Inc. / Connie & Leonard Goodman / Linda Gottleib / Alice & Peg Grady / Patrick Graham / Greg K. Kramer & Co. / Martyn Gregory / Lynne & Harold Handler / Halley Harrisburg & Michael Rosenfeld / Harvey Art & Antiques / Mark Hayden / Laima & John C. Hood / Joan & Bill Houck / Iris Hudson / Donna & Carroll Janis / Jeff R. Bridgman Antiques / Linda Johnson / Isobel Kahn / Cathy M. Kaplan / Steven Kasher / Susanne & Ralph Katz / Stephen Knollenberg / Ginger Komar / Toby & Paul Koren / Lucy & Joseph Landesberg / Wendy & Stephen Lash / Barbara M. & Edward J. Laux / Richard & Dennis Lebert / Allan Lenzner / Lorie C. & Charles J. Levy Jr. / Shirley Lindenbaum / Arthur Liverant / Cassandra Lozano / Susan Malone / Russ B. Mandor / Andrea & Sinclaire Marber / Mattsson-McHale Foundation / Nancy McCain / Sharon McCormick / T.M. McDonnell / Grete Meilman / Holly Merrill & Stephen Turco / Terri Moreland / Beth Goldberg Nash & Joshua Nash / Ruth K. Nelson / Marjorie & Leonard Nezin / Margaret & David Nichols / John Nicoletti / John Norwood / Katie & Donal C. O’Brien Jr. / Barbara & Roy Ostrom / David T. Owsley / Melinda Papp / Grace M. Parr / Cheryl Payne / Joan Pearlman / Nancy Pedot / Karin Eriksen Perez & Rolando Perez / Janet S. Petry / Andrew Porter / Mason Rader / Josephine D’Amato Richardson / Susan W. Robertson / John R. Robinson Esq. / Melissa Rohland / Lois & Richard Rosenthal / Robert A. Roth / Natalie & Robert H. Schaffer / Cynthia V.A. & Robert T. Schaffner / Tess & Thomas Schutte / Cipora & Philip Schwartz / Philippe Segalot / Carla Shere / Joanne & Fred Siegmund / Barbara & Arun Singh / Geri A. Skirkanich / Virginia Smith / Gary Snyder / Grace & Elliott Snyder / Stephanie & Richard L. Solar / Micki Beth Stiller / Elizabeth Stillinger / Aimee & Anne Swartz / TD Bank / Ida & Serge Liu Tismen / Isabel & Ruben Toledo / Jann Trefny / Dorothy C. Treisman / Michael A. Trese / Trotta-Bono / Helen S. Tucker / Susan Unterberg / Mary Valentine / P. Derek Van Zandt / Mary Ellen Vehlow & Stephen Hessler / Yvonne & Kurt Vogt / Jane & David Walentas / Linda & Leonard Walton / Janis & William M. Wetsman / Jan Whitlock / Alexa Winner / Anna Marie Witmer / Mary Zanganas / Malcah Zeldis

LEAVES and FLOWERS / Eugene Von Bruenchenhein (1910–1983) / Milwaukee / c. 1940s–1970s / clay and paint on clay / various dimensions / collection of Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz / photo by Gavin Ashworth

IN THE WORLD (detail) / Consuelo “Chelo” González Amézcua (1903–1975) / Del Rio, Texas / 1962 / ballpoint pen on paper / 28 x 22 in. / American Folk Art Museum, Blanchard-Hill Collection, gift of M. Anne Hill and Edward V. Blanchard Jr., 1998.10.1 / photo by Gavin Ashworth

UNTITLED (detail) / Eugene Von Bruenchenhein (1910–1983) / Milwaukee / c. 1940s–mid-1950s / gelatin silver print / 10 x 8 in. / American Folk Art Museum, gift of Lewis and Jean Greenblatt, 2000.1.4 / photo by Gavin Ashworth

HARLEQUIN MEDALLION QUILT (detail) / artist unidentified / New England / 1800–1820 / glazed wool / 87 x 96 in. / American Folk Art Museum, gift of Cyril Irwin Nelson in loving memory of his grandparents John Williams and Sophie Anna Macy, 1984.33.1 / photo by Matt Hoebermann

STAR OF BETHLEHEM WITH SATELLITE STARS QUILT (detail) / artist unidentified / possibly Pennsylvania / 1930–1950 / cotton and blends / 81 1/4 x 81 in. / American Folk Art Museum, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Frederick M. Danziger, 1985.4.1

VORTEX QUILT (detail) / artist unidentified / United States / 1890–1910 / pieced and appliquéd cotton / 82 x 80 in. / collection of Johanna S. Rose / photo by Gavin Ashworth

172 AT JENNIE RICHEE. STORM CONTINUES. LIGHTNING STRIKES SHELTER BUT NO ONE IS INJURED (detail) / Henry Darger (1892–1973) / Chicago / mid-twentieth century / watercolor, pencil, carbon tracing, and collage on pieced paper / 24 x 108 3/4 in. / American Folk Art Museum, anonymous gift in recognition of Sam Farber, 2004.1.1a / © Kiyoko Lerner / photo by Gavin Ashworth

PLAYING CARDS / Clementine Hunter (1886/87–1988) / Natchitoches, Louisiana / 1970 / oil on canvas board / 18 x 24 in. / American Folk Art Museum, gift of the Mildred Hart Bailey/Clementine Hunter Art Trust, 1996.1.2 / photo by Gavin Ashworth

KALEIDOSCOPIC XVI: MORE IS MORE (detail) / Paula Nadelstern (b. 1951) / Bronx, New York / dated 1996 / cottons and silk / 64 x 64 in. / American Folk Art Museum, gift of the artist, 2008.21.1 / photo by Karen Bell

BIRD OF PARADISE QUILT TOP (detail) / artist unidentified / vicinity of Albany, New York / (1858–1863) / cotton, wool, and silk with ink and silk embroidery / 84 1/2 x 69 5/8 in. / American Folk Art Museum, gift of the Trustees, 1979.7.1 / photo by Gavin Ashworth

UNTITLED #14A / Eugene Andolsek (1921–