Letter from the Director Dr. Robert Bishop
Mrs. Dixon Wecter, founder and curator of Animal Carnival, Inc., first visited me at the Museum of American Folk Art several years ago. She was seeking information about the Museum and about the newly established Masters and Ph.D. program created by the Museum in association with New York University, the only such program in the country. Our conversations led to a discussion of her own educational project, Animal Carnival, Inc. While visiting many foreign countries, Mrs. Wecter had assembled nearly 150 examples of folk sculpture, paintings and textiles representing animals. Her ultimate goal was to present this diverse collection to an institution that would use it in exhibition and teaching programs. Further discussions led to the selection of the Museum of American Folk Art as the final home for Animal Carnival, Inc. "Ape to Zebra: A Menagerie of New Mexican Wood Carvings:' featuring works of art from Animal Carnival, Inc., is the first time the twentiethcentury Santa Fe school of wood carvers has been presented in such a comprehensive way. Many of the folk artists are spiritual descendants of the eighteenth and nineteenth-century Southwestern carvers of religious figures. They are, in effect, carrying forth the wood craft traditions of earlier generations into our own time. "Ape to Zebra: A Menagerie of New Mexican Wood Carvings" was presented at the Mexican Museum in San Francisco under the auspices of the Museum of American Folk Art, and a national tour will follow the New York showing (December 10, 1985-February 16, 1986). We anticipate other major exhibitions from the Animal Carnival Collection of the Museum of American Folk Art in the near future. A catalogue documents this important addition to the collection. Since the founding of the Museum in 1961, we have presented over 120 exhibitions. Most of these important shows
Barbara Kaufman, Director of the Folk Art Institute with Trustee Barbara Johnson, and Museum Friends, Eva Feld, Nell and Herb Singer, generous donors who through their contributions have made the Folk Art Institute possible.
have been accompanied by catalogues or illustrated Clarion articles and checklists. In addition, we have also produced in conjunction with several publishers, most notably, E.P. Dutton, Inc., a whole library of volumes that preserve the results of the extensive work of our curators and guest curators. American Wildfowl Decoys written by Jeff Waingrow with photographs by our staff photographer, Carleton Palmer, and a foreword by founding trustee Adele Earnest details in full color over sixty of the best decoys in our permanent collection, most of which were the generous gift of Alastair B. Martin. Available at $14.95, the book accompanies the exhibition"An Art of Deception: American Wildfowl Decoys, which runs from December 10, 1985February 16, 1986. Gameboards of North America by Bruce and Doranna Wendel documents last year's exhibition, "Winning Moves:' which they organized. This publication, with an introduction by R. Scudder Smith, contains 72 pages in full color and is available at $12.95. Windmill Weights, a book written by Milton Simpson, and published in association with ourexhibition at the 1985 Fall Antiques Show sells for $24.95. This is the first book ever to deal with the subject and contains a complete background description ofhow weights were used, who their manufacturers were, and their relationship to the opening and development of the west-
em frontier in the nineteenth century. This fall we established the Folk Art Institute — a Museum-integrated post baccalaureate certificate program. The Folk Art Institute is housed at the Museum and information may be obtained by telephoning our Institute Director, Barbara Kaufman, at 212/586-1574. The generosity of Eva Feld, Barbara Johnson and Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Singer has provided the initial boost we needed to make the Institute a reality. The Great American Quilt Festival, which will be presented at Pier 92from April 24-27, 1986, offers another remarkable opportunity to learn about folk art. We have brought together over 100 of the country's best dealers who will display their merchandise for sale but who will also share their knowledge and provide information to the public at large at the same time. No place else has it been possible to see so many wonderful folk textiles gathered in one arena. Information is available by calling 212/581-2474. Over 20 workshops, 50 lectures, 8 major exhibitions of antique and modern quilts and nearly all of America's most important quilt dealers will come together for this national event. I would also like to mention one last project — the Twentieth Century Folk and Outsider Art Symposium to be held by the Museum from June 25-27, 1986, in conjunction with the exhibition, "Muffled Voices: Folk Artists in Contemporary America:' For the first time ever most of the best-known scholars actively involved in the area of twentieth-century folk art have agreed to participate. Since this is still a controversial subject, we are anticipating substantial attendance for this event which is being co-sponsored by some dozen of America's most important museums and cultural institutions. Join us and help the Museum of American Folk Art preserve America's rich folk heritage for today and for future generations. 17