Over the last century, experts and passionate collectors of Folk Art have made great strides in separating theordinary from the extraordinary, creating standards for what seems on the surface to be naïve and untrained. Folk artists are largely self-trained, and always have set out on a personal and unique path to express themselves. Their work is often considered “primitive” in execution and technique. But the works on display at the Church Street Art Gallery make the point that these artists share a rare gift of being able to communicate excitingly andvividly the passions and obsessions that caused them to create art in the first place.

Store bought art supplies are generally not a high priority with folk artists. It seems important to them to usematerials that are readily available in their own environment: for example, scrap wood from boxes, barn siding,and found objects. And for those who are familiar with the genre, it’s always exciting to see how ingenious theseartists are in their use of everyday objects and in their unique styles of painting.  One of the most familiarexamples in the 20th century are the paintings of Grandma Moses.  With her deceptively simple use of space andsubject matter she created storytelling moments of her life in pastoral New England. Picasso made sculptures using old toy trucks for monkey faces and wads of straw stuffing for the stomachs ofpregnant goats. These are delightful examples of his prolific genius delving into the realm of folk or primitive. He clearly needed to see for himself how these odd self-trained and self-motivated artists managed to makegreat work out of what the rest of the world considers junk.

Works by artists who are becoming recognized as outstanding talents are often commanding the kind of prices only the best works of traditional art once commanded. A small painted folk art carving of a heart and hand, soldat auction in 2003 for $79,500.  Probably the most famous of all American folk paintings, “The Peaceable Kingdom” was painted in multiples by the Pennsylvania Quaker Edward Hicks.  The last of the 65 versions, donein 1849 for his daughter just before his death, was sold in at Christies this year for $6,176,000, setting anauction record for American Folk Art and for Hicks.

Likewise, Folk Art is now represented in the collections of virtually every major art museum. And museums thatare dedicated to the preservation and display of Folk Art are commonplace as well.  A sampling of those museumsis the American Folk Art Museum in New York, the Museum of International Folk Art, Santa Fe, the Abby AldrichRockefeller Folk Art Museum in Williamsburg VA, the Craft and Folk Art Museum in LA and the Mingei International Museum in San Diego