news release

The Vero Beach Museum of Art is pleased to announce the exhibition American Perspectives: Stories from the American Folk Art Museum Collection, in partnership with the Art Bridges Foundation, on view October 2, 2021 through January 2, 2022, in the Holmes and Schumann Galleries.

The exhibition includes over 90 American folk art objects, spanning from paintings and pottery, to quilts, needlework, and sculpture. The fascinating artworks span the entirety of our nation’s history, offering firsthand testimony to the people, places, and events of our culture.

Folk artists, sometimes referred to as self-taught artists, are individuals whose talents emerged from personal experience rather than formal training. Their creations are beautiful, diverse, truthful, often utilitarian, and rooted in their individual heritage or community. The works in American Perspectives are organized into four sections -Founders, Travelers, Philosophers, and Seekers - that respond to such themes as nationhood, freedom, community, imagination, opportunity, and legacy.

“Beautiful, diverse, and truthful, the art illuminates the thoughts and experiences of indivduals with an immediacy that is palpable and unique to these expressions. Visitors will be able to access contextual information in the exhibition to further reveal the vital role that folk art plays as a witness to history, carrier of cultural heritage, and a reflection of the world at large through the eyes, heart, and mind of the artist,” commented VBMA Senior Curator Anke Van Wagenberg.

American Perspectives includes traditional artworks like portraiture and landscape painting to more unexpected pieces like carousel figures, wood carvings, and dolls. Museum visitors are encouraged to participate in a series of upcoming related programming including lectures, studio art classes, artist workshops, Art Talks, and artmaking projects for families. For more information and to register for programs please visit the website www.vbmuseum.org call (772) 231-0707 ext. 136.

The exhibition is organized by the American Folk Art Museum, New York, with support provided by Art Bridges. Originally curated for installation at the American Folk Art Museum, February 11, 2020 — January 3, 2021, by Stacy C. Hollander, Independent Curator. Tour coordinated by Emelie Gevalt, Curator of Folk Art, the American Folk Art Museum.

The Vero Beach Museum of Art is located at 3001 Riverside Park Drive, Vero Beach, Florida 32963. Directions: From I-95 (Exit 147), from U.S. One, and Indian River Boulevard, take State Road 60 east over the Merrill Barber Bridge to beachside, turn right at first traffic light into Riverside Park.

Museum programs are sponsored in part by the State of Florida through the Florida Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs, and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture, as well as the Holmes Family Foundation. The Vero Beach Museum of Art is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. The Vero Beach Museum of Art is a membership-based not for profit 501 (C) 3 organization pursuant to chapter 212, Florida Statutes.