Part of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, the Folk Art Museum offers long-term and temporary exhibitions of American folk art from its permanent holdings and museum loan shows. Once-common objects such as furniture, clothing, ceramics, metals, maps and firearms become interpretive tools for understanding the people, events and ideas of the past.
The Museum focuses on colonial and contemporary artists and craftspeople who work outside the mainstream of academic art to record aspects of everyday life, making novel and effective use of the materials at hand. Bold colors, simplified shapes, and the imaginative surface patterns that are the hallmarks of folk art can be seen in the variety of paintings, carvings, toys, needlework on display.
Exhibitions & Dates
We the People: American Folk Portraits
May 6 2017 -
Collection of American folk portraits reveal much about ordinary people
America's Folk Art
Jul 1 2017 -
Array of folk art showcasing highlights from the collection
Navajo Weavings: Tradition and Trade
Jul 14 2018 -
Pictorial Navajo weavings from the late 19th and early 20th centuries
Folk Art Underfoot: American Hooked Rugs
Aug 18 2018 -
20 rugs feature techniques that originated in 19th-century Maine and became a national activity