Grandma Moses: Grandmother to the Nation

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Grandma Moses: Grandmother to the Nation

January 27 - April 22, 2007

Reynolda House Museum of American Art will host the exhibition, Grandma Moses: Grandmother to the Nation, from January 27 through April 22, 2007. Organized by the Fenimore Art Museum in Cooperstown, New York, the exhibition includes approximately thirty paintings as well as a selection of artifacts, including the artist's rocking chair, apron, doll, and paint supplies.

Anna Mary Robertson Moses (1860-1961), known to the nation as Grandma Moses, remains one of the most recognized and beloved American painters. Although she did not paint until 1927, at age sixty-seven, within years she had accumulated accolades and achieved fame. The exhibition is organized in thematic sections that correlate to her painting as America made the transition from the Great Depression and World War II through the cold war years and relative economic prosperity. Her images of rural life provided soothing respite from otherwise turbulent times, and fifty years later her vision of the simple life still strikes a resonant chord.

Reynolda House will host several events focusing on different aspects of the exhibition, all celebrating Grandma Moses and her work as an "outsider" or self-taught artist and the effect her are had on American popular culture and collecting. There will be a series of Tuesday evening Gallery Talks, concerts, and a Sunday afternoon Back to the Farm Community Day. A day-long symposium on March 3 will feature guest speakers including Karal Ann Marling, Lee Kogan, Jane Kallir, co-director of the Galerie St. Etienne and author of Grandma Moses in the 21st Century, Joy Kasson, chair of the department of American Studies at University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, and art critic Tom Patterson. Reynolda House will collaborate with SECCA to offer a day-long art trip led by Patterson to visit several self-taught artists in various parts of North Carolina on Tuesday, March 6.

Following Reynolda House, the exhibition will travel to the Hunter Museum of Art, Chattanooga Tennessee, May 19 - August 12, 2007, The Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, California, September 8, 2007 - January 6, 2008, and the John and Mabel Ringling Museum, Sarasota, Florida, January 25 - April 18, 2008.

Reynolda House will host an opening party for the Grandma Moses exhibition on Friday, January 26 at 7 p.m. The event will be open to the public with hors d'oevres, live music, and a cash bar. In addition, the main floor of the historic house will be open to visitors. Fee. For information, please call 336-758-5150 or visit the website at reynoldahouse.org.

While the exhibition is on view, there will be a series of events celebrating Grandma Moses and her work as an "outsider" or self taught artist and the effect her art had on American popular culture. In addition to the opening event and the symposium, there will be a community day festival, a series of Gallery Talks, and concerts. The monthly Sunday afternoon Family First Workshops will feature art activities for elementary school-aged children that have a connection to the art of Grandma Moses. Several Portals of Discovery courses in continuing education for adults will be inspired by her art and the crafts she made popular, such as quilting.

Grandma Moses: Grandmother to the Nation was curated by Lee Kogan, Curator of Special Exhibitions and Public Programs at the American Folk Art Museum in New York City, and Karal Ann Marling, professor of history at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Marling is the author of the exhibition companion book Designs on the Heart: The Homemade Art of Grandma Moses, Harvard University Press.

Grandma Moses: Grandmother to the Nation is funded in part by The Institute of Museum and Library Services, an independent Federal grant-making agency; New York Council for the Humanities, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities; and the National Endowment for the Arts. This exhibition was organized by The Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown, New York.

rev. 2/24/07

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