January 15 - April 11, 2010 Erie Art Museum, Erie

May 1 - July 31, 2010Adams County Council on the Arts, Gettysburg

September 1 - November 30, 2010

Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area, Homestead

May 14 - August 28, 2011Michener Art Museum, Doylestown

November 19, 2011 - April 29, 2012

The State Museum of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg

This exhibit explores lots kinds of folk art.

All the art you will see has been made recently, but some of the traditions are very old.

You will see how folk art is used to:

Shape Communities

Live Creatively

Practice Spirituality Be Healthy

and Create Social Change

Shaping Community

• What are the different communities represented in your classroom?

• Do you know any American traditions?

Dosina Blemahdoo, Pittsburgh Dressmaker from Ghana (Africa)

How are these dresses different from ones you see in an American store?

Do you know anyone who makes clothing?

Yolanda Lorya, Erie

Latuko (Sudan) Beadwork

“If I stay here without making African things, I look lost. I want our children who were born here to know about us.”

Paulett Simunich, Johnstown

Ukrainian Pyansky Egg Decoration

“At age eight, I remember my Baba and my Mom by the coal stove, concentrating on their eggs.”

Yellow = light and happiness Orange = strength Red = fire and joy White = purityBlue = good healthBlack = memory and eternity

Diana Meng, Camp Hill - Chinese Watercolor

“It’s not just decoration. For me, painting helps keep good health and inner peace by quieting your heart.”

Living Creatively in Our World

What art is made from things in nature?

How do you make your house beautiful?

Jymm Hoffman, Ambridge - Blacksmithing

Blacksmithing is the art of shaping metals with heat and pounding.

The orange metal above is red hot.

What other things do blacksmiths make?

Ken Ely, Brooklyn - Fieldstone Walls

Ken builds and fixes stone walls. He does not use cement, just stones. He doesn’t like to cut his stones. He prefers working with rocks shaped by nature.

Tim Schloss, Erie - Taxidermy

Taxidermy is the art of stuffing dead animals.

Hunters use taxidermy to show their skill.

Museums use taxidermy to teach about science and nature.

Ross Shourds, Mainesburg - Wooden Decoy Carvings

Duck decoys attract other ducks for hunters.

The crow decoy keeps other birds out of a garden.

Practicing Spirituality

What are some examples of religious art?

Can art teach right and wrong?

Charles “Skip” Culleiton, Lower Burrell

Sawdust Carpet Display

These carpets are made of colored sawdust. Only the priest walks on the sawdust. This is a German Catholic tradition.

Chamroeun Yin, Milbourne

Cambodian Ritual Clothing

Yin makes clothes for weddings and for Cambodian dancers.

Bill Roberson, Altoona

Native American Traditional Dance and Craft

The leg rattles keep rhythm with the drum during dance.

“The drum beat is a very important part of the song. It’s also the heartbeat of our People.”

Susan Leviton, Harrisburg

Jewish Calligraphy and Papercutting

This is not a drawing, it is a papercut!

The artist does not use scissors, she uses a knife.

Nurturing Well-being and Health

• What traditions give you strength?

• How does art help people feel good physically?

David Castano, Coudersport - Carved Figures

“My wood carvings show families and their history. It is something from my heart. I try to connect to the people I carve.”

These are the men who were trapped in the Que Creek coal mine accident. Everyone was saved and is alive today.

Vera Nakonechny, Philadelphia - Ukrainian Healing Towels

These towels are sewn by hand and then a sick person is wrapped in them.

They are made for wedding gifts.

Tuoc Tran, Mechanicsburg

Vietnamese Funerary Paintings

After someone dies, Vietnamese families ask an artist to paint a picture of the loved one. This hangs in the home so they can remember and pray to that ancestor.

Creating Social Change and Awareness

• How can art bring justice?

• What traditions help people to change their community?

Frito Bastien, Philadelphia - Haitian Memory Painting

The people of Haiti were not free because of their government. This man described the danger of the government through his pictures. This way he could tell the truth without going to jail.

POSE II, Philadelphia - Graffiti Art

Graffiti is using spray paint on walls in public. Some people think it is bad when it breaks a law. The artist believes he makes the world more beautiful.

Losang Samten, Philadelphia - Tibetan Sand Mandala

This man is a Buddhist monk who makes pictures with sand.

He travels to many places to make these sand paintings. He does this to bring peace to each place.

Spiral Q Puppet Theatre, Philadelphia

Peoplehood Parade Puppets

These people are using costumes and puppets they made to talk about important problems. They help their neighborhood stop crime. They also help make the government better.

Folk art is used to:

Shape Communities

Live Creatively

Practice Spirituality Be Healthy

and Create Social Change

What kind of art does your family do?