I used my grant in January 2022 to travel to the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, New Mexico, to visit their library and archives and view the objects of my research in person. My thesis focused on Hispanic folk art objects from 19th-century New Mexico (then a territory of the United States) and how the museum interpreted these objects from their founding in 1953 to the present. I argue that the interpretation of folk art changed over time as the field was influenced by the disciplines of art history and material culture. Visiting the museum library and viewing their archival files allowed me to look inside the planning of past exhibitions and compare the presentation of these objects over time. Viewing the objects in person strengthened my visual argument that folk traditions are dynamic and are affected by changes in culture and history.
April 01, 2023