Folk Art

Paintings Stolen 50 Years Ago Returned to Historic Huguenot Street

June 9, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The New York Art Crime Team of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) recently returned two paintings by 19th-century portrait artist Ammi Phillips to Historic Huguenot Street (HHS).

The two portraits, depicting prominent New Paltz residents Dirck D. Wynkoop (1738-1827) and his wife Annatje Eltinge (1748-1827), were missing for fifty years, after they were stolen on February 16th, 1972 while on display at the 1799 Ezekiel Elting (aka LeFevre) House on Huguenot Street. [Read more…] about Paintings Stolen 50 Years Ago Returned to Historic Huguenot Street

Nancy Cunard, Modernism and the Private Press Movement

September 29, 2021 by Jaap Harskamp 1 Comment

The history of the modern private press can be said to have started in early 1891 with William Morris’s foundation of the Kelmscott Press at 16 Upper Mall, Hammersmith, and the publication of his own work The Story of the Glittering Plain.

There had been forerunners of course. Horace Walpole’s Strawberry Hill Press, established in June 1757, set a precedent by producing splendid books, pamphlets, and ephemera, but it was Morris who succeeded in establishing a cost-effective press for high quality publications. His initiative gave birth to a host of similar undertakings. He initiated the Private Press Movement which was closely associated with the rise of modernist ideas. Morris also had a remarkable following in New York. [Read more…] about Nancy Cunard, Modernism and the Private Press Movement

Long Island Traditions Expanding Maritime Folk Arts Programs

May 24, 2021 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Long Island Traditions (LIT) has been awarded a $10,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) for its Maritime Folk Arts programs, enabling it to launch a new joint program with the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center (FHC) connecting Long Island maritime folk artists with their counterparts in Massachusetts.

The grant will also enable LIT to continue to bring maritime tradition bearers into classrooms in the Freeport and East Williston school districts, as it has done for decades. [Read more…] about Long Island Traditions Expanding Maritime Folk Arts Programs

New Publication Focuses on American Folk Art and Americana

January 13, 2021 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Americana Insights, a new nonprofit e-journal and multi-faceted resource center, has been launched by Jane Katcher, Americana and American folk art collector, in collaboration with David A. Schorsch, an authority on American antiques and folk art.

The digital publication is supported by an advisory board of museum and art-world professionals and edited by independent scholar, author, and curator Robert Shaw. [Read more…] about New Publication Focuses on American Folk Art and Americana

Handcrafted: The Folk and Their Art in Schenectady

January 30, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The Schenectady County Historical Society is set to open a new exhibition, Handcrafted: The Folk and Their Art, on February 1st.

Handcrafted: The Folk and Their Art explores folk art’s reflection of human needs, values, concerns, and desires. Handcrafted is co-curated by Susanna Fout and Schenectady County Community College folk art professor Marilyn Sassi and will feature over fifty carefully selected pieces, most of which have never been displayed publicly. [Read more…] about Handcrafted: The Folk and Their Art in Schenectady

Folk Art Kicks Off Old Stone Fort Lecture Series

January 12, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The 2020 Lecture Series at the Old Stone Fort Museum is set to kick off on Saturday, January 18 at 2 pm when local folk artist John Wilkinson presents an artist’s talk, exhibition and sale in the Badgley Museum Annex. [Read more…] about Folk Art Kicks Off Old Stone Fort Lecture Series

Are House Museums Dead? 1730s Schenectady Home Now An Arts Space

November 7, 2019 by Editorial Staff 4 Comments

Antique beams and wide plank floors still characterize the 1730s Brouwer House in Schenectady’s old Stockade neighborhood. Now a series of studios for artists and performers have been installed in one of the city’s oldest homes, which was gifted to the Schenectady County Historical Society in 2017.

Many historical societies face the question of what to do with a historic house they’ve been generously gifted. While there are exceptions, many (most?) house museums scrape by, defer maintenance, and lack the resources or support to maintain collections and provide public interpretation.

Schoharie’s Famous Easter Egg Exhibit Set To Reopen

April 7, 2019 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

The 2019 Lecture Series at the Old Stone Fort Museum is set to continue on Wednesday, April 10 at 7 pm with a look back on the history and popularity of Schoharie’s Famous Easter Egg Exhibit, with Joe and Berna Heyman.

Opening once again to the public in 2019, the exhibit features nearly 5,000 uniquely hand-painted eggs in virtually countless styles and themes. [Read more…] about Schoharie’s Famous Easter Egg Exhibit Set To Reopen