:By midsummer, when the Maine Folk Art Trail is in full swing, collectors and vacationers will be able to view one of the broadest slices of Americana local to this state that has ever been presented. The 11 museums participating in the event have dug deeply into their troves to present works that comprise a comprehensive survey of folk art as it evolved in Maine during the Eighteenth, Nineteenth and early Twentieth Centuries. Influenced as much by geography as social position, by need as much as the need for self-expression, the works by schoolgirls and sailors, carvers, quilters, cabinetmakers and painters offer rare insights into the activities of daily life. Besides the art, the Maine Folk Art Trail invites a tour of the state from Down East to the upper regions of Penobscot Bay and as far west as Bridgton. Fortunately, the exhibits run well into the late fall, giving visitors ample opportunity to do the trail in several small bites
Influenced as much by geography as social position, by need as much as the need for self-expression, the works by schoolgirls and sailors, carvers, quilters, cabinetmakers and painters offer rare insights into the activities of daily life. In keeping with the basic definition of folk art, much of the work is anonymous. Some of it weaves the genealogy of founding and prominent families into finely crafted documents. There are Shaker gifts, toys lovingly crafted, iconic signs, crewel bed hangings and wholly preserved room murals to be seen. There are portraits by limners and celebrated masters. All told, the items on view number in the hundreds.
Besides the art, the Maine Folk Art Trail invites a tour of the state from Down East to the upper regions of Penobscot Bay and as far west as Bridgton. Fortunately, the exhibits run well into the late fall, giving visitors ample opportunity to do the trail in several small bites.
The project grew out of the enthusiasm of two prominent folk art collectors who make Maine their home. Charlie Burden and Ray Egan wanted to do something different for the American Folk Art Society's annual meeting. After approaching a few museums, the idea took off and a statewide effort was launched. According to the curators and museum directors involved, the idea was stroke of genius.
This Simeon-Burnham family document, circa 1830, maintains its original exuberant colors. Watercolor and ink on paper. Origin: Bridgton, Maine. Bates College Museum of Art, loaned by Deborah N. Isaacson Trust.
For the museums that rally under the banner of the Maine Folk Art Trail, the project provided an opportunity to further their mission. For small, historical museums that have lately found themselves on the outside of the mainstream, it created an opportunity to find relevancy in the Twenty-First Century. For museums with extensive permanent collections that do not generally brand themselves as folk art museums, the effort gave reason to dig through permanent collections, some long warehoused, and surface remarkable examples of Maine folk art rarely before on view.
This following overview of the museum exhibitions is, for convenience, divided geographically into three parts, starting with the coastal venues, moving inland and concluding in the western part of the state.
The exhibition at the Museums of Old York, running through November 28, inaugurates the Remick Barn, a new facility that is both gallery space and education center. Interestingly, in the collegial spirit that seems to bind the people of Maine, the historic barn, which was fully documented before being dismantled and reconstructed, is a gift of the Remick family. In an extension of the same spirit, the exhibition at the Museums of Old York became as much a local event as an institutional one, with museum members and friends meeting weekly with experts to discuss the foundations and meanings of folk art.
