Last Friday the September 8th, I went to American Flok Art Museum. It is a free museum for all. In the front of the entrance there are a lot of brochures and by reading them I have learned that American Flok Art Museum is the premier institution devoted to the creative expressions of self-taught artists,past, and present- artists of diverse backgrounds, origins, inspirations, and goals. And since 1961, the museum has been shaping the understanding of art by the self-taught fro the revolutionary era to today. By showcasing the ongoing creativity of individuals whose singular talents have been refined through experience rather than formal artistic training, the museum consideres the historical, social, and artistic context of American visual culture. The museum’s collection holds more than 8,000 artworks dating from the eighteen century to the present, including early American portraits, painted furniture, and twenty-first centuries; the art of the American south, by African American masters such as bill Traylor, Lonnie Holley, Ronald Lockett, and other.
As I went through the museum, there is a little shop on the left side of the entrance, very small but full of creative hand-made art such as books, postcards, and some fabrics. In the middle of the exhibition hall of the museum, there is a painting of a lady making the quilts. Because during this season the museum is exhibiting the “quilts”. This paint is called “Strippy Quilt”. And there is a story on the wall which says this complex quilt was made by a soldier who was not a professional tailor. It shocked me, because the quilts seems to be made very professional.
I never learned American tranditional culture like this before. It is new and fresh for me. I will learn more about past American art in the future. It was a wonderful experience for me.