MUSEUM
NEWS
2003 Outsider Art Fair he American Folk Art Museum hosted the eleventh annual Outsider Art Fair Benefit Preview, which was held on Wednesday,January 22,in Soho's Puck Building. The Outsider Art Fair, a four-day event showcasing a wide range of contemporary self-taught and outsider art, attracted 32 galleries from Canada,England, France, Germany, Haiti, Holland, and all over the United States, and thousands of visitors. Guests of the Benefit Preview enjoyed delicious hors d'oeuvres provided by Canard, while listening to the eclectic sounds of the Carolina Slim Duo,playing the blues on the banjo and washboard; Sean Grisson's Cajun cello; and Paul and Marc Mueller, brothers who play the hammer dulcimer and found-object percussion instruments. Sanford L. Smith & Associates organized the show,and Caroline Kerrigan and Colin Lynch Smith directed it. The Benefit Preview was made possible through the invaluable efforts of the museum's director of special events, Monique Brizz-Walker, and Katie Hush,special events coordinator, along with Benefit chairs Dana and Paul Caan,Pei-Ling and Thomas Isenberg, Laura and Richard Parsons, and Angela and Selig Sacks. The contributing vice chairs were Didi and David Barrett, Betsey and Samuel Farber, Audrey Heckler, and Amy and Richard Rubenstein. Numerous educational and benefit events and programs were held in conjunction with the Outsider Art Fair. The museum's membership department was present at the Outsider Art Fair with the benefit Signature Quilt, selling spaces for participants' names.
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Signature spaces are still available through the membership department. For more information, please call 212/977-7170. The membership department also hosted a Folk Art Explorers daytrip,Inside Outsider Art in New York,on Friday, January 24, in which two Manhattan artists, Bernard Goodman and Malcah Zeldis, graciously welcomed two busloads of Explorers into their homes to view their private collections. Conversing with Contemporary Masterworks, a series of guided museum tours that took place throughout the fair, added a breadth of understanding for those wanting to learn more about the work of outsider artists in the museum's collection. The celebration of outsider artists extended to musicians,in An Evening of Outsider Music, hosted on Friday by Irwin Chusid, author and producer of Songs in the Key ofZ,a collection of works by untrained musicians. The concert took place at Fez,just a few steps from the Puck Building, with fascinating and exciting performances by a number of diverse musicians,including the energetic Bingo Gazing째(accompanied by My Robot Friend); ethereal and haunting Thoth;legendary R. Stevie Moore;and the enthusiastic and lively B.J. Snowden. Also held on Friday was the museum's Americus Group Cocktail Party, hosted by the Andrew Edlin Gallery in Chelsea. The Anne Hill Blanchard Symposium: Uncommon Artists XI was presented by the museum's Folk Art Institute and Contemporary Center on Saturday, January 25, at the American Folk Art Museum. Uncommon Artists is an annual series of talks focus-
Good Chides Midas and Gerard C. Wertldn
ing on individual contemporary artists. The museum's director, Gerard C. Wertkin, and Lee Kogan,the director of the Folk Art Institute spoke at this year's symposium,along with Carol Crown, Ph.D., who spoke about religious texts; Beate Echols, who lectured on Arthur Bispo do Rosario; Colin Rhodes,Ph.D., who presented the
work of Wilhelm van Genk; and Bernard Goodman, who talked about his own work. The museum would like to thank all of the artists, galleries, contributors, coordinators, and, of course, all of the guests who attended the Outsider Art Fair and its related programs this year. It was a spectacular event!
Carolina Slim examining the embroidery of Ray Materson
74 SUMMER 2003 FOLK ART