Ever since we moved to Virginia I have been hearing about the American Visionary Art Museum. Folk/Naive/Outsider art has always been some of my favorite art (that along with kids' art). as evidenced by my  earlier post about the exhibit in Milwaukee - So I have been anxious to get up to Baltimore to see it. Finally made it, and it did not disappoint! 

It is an unbelievable museum of spirited works inspired by nothing but life and the primal need to create. The work is soul-baring and poignant; It is funny and playful; It is a joy to behold.

One of the main exhibits was dedicated to Esther Krinitz, a woman who along with her sister, managed to survive the Nazi occupation. The rest of her family did not. The individual depictions of the events leading up to, during and after the war were made to tell her own family of what had happened. The labor of love showed in every stitch, and the details of those memories were just incredible. ​​

We had all been to the NMWA before, and all agreed that this time the experience was more extensive and higher quality than we had remembered. We were happy to see several examples of fiber art represented.

The building is beautiful, but the curation takes a bit of getting used to. Rather than grouped chronologically or by media, it is very integrated in every gallery which, at times, requires the viewer to make some quick changes in their thoughts and perceptions. But a good visit nonetheless.

Behind the welcome desk, was a separate room with a traveling exhibit by Ambreen Butt. It was magnificent and moving. Her work uses so many different processes and exquisite craftsmanship to convey incredible concepts. 
Here is her bio (right) and one of her pieces (below). Click on the images if you need them larger!

The Temple that was built for the Burning Man show was still up on the second floor and there was evidence of the next show being installed, so not much new to see up there (except the beautiful building itself!), but on the first floor there was some interesting work. Four artists, Tanya Aguiñiga, Sharif Bey, Dustin Farnsworth, and Stephanie Syjuco were all represented in a show named "Disrupting Craft ". The common thread between their work was that they all addressed social justice. The work included clay, fiber, wood, found objects and more.

For me the most interesting was Dustin Farnsworth. I was also a bit proud to read of his connections to the UW in Madison, WI. The work stood on its own as  aethestically; then the layer of social justice/injustice representation added additional depth to the work.  for more on the exhibit click here. Here are a couple shots of his work: