Museum of American Folk Art.
The hole on West 53rd Street is now being filled by the new Museum of American Folk Art folk art, the art works of a culturally homogeneous people produced by artists without formal training. The forms of such works are generally developed into a tradition that is either cut off from or tenuously connected to the contemporary cultural mainstream. Folk art often involves craft processes, e.g., in America, quilting and sculpture of ships' figureheads, cigar-store figures, and carousel animals., which broke ground last week. City Cultural Affairs Commissioner Schuyler Chapin helped dig in with the unique ground-breaking shovels, which were hand-painted by one of the artists with an American flag. The state is providing $510,000 and the city $2.5 million towards construction of the 30,000 square-foot museum on eight levels. Designed by Tod Williams and Billie Tsien, it will be the city's first new art museum since the Whitney went up in 1966.
COPYRIGHT 1999 Hagedorn Publication
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 1999, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.
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