Organized on the occasion of the Museum’s 60th anniversary, MULTITUDES will showcase some 400 stellar works, including William Edmondson’s Martha and Mary, Ammi Phillips’ Portrait of Frederick A. Gale, and drawings by Helen Rae.

In the exhibition, the concept of ‘multitudes’ is reflected in the artistic process itself—from gestures of repetition and seriality, as well as organizing acts of systematization, memorialization, inventory-taking, and the creation of casts of characters. MULTITUDES includes community-based creations rooted in long-standing traditions, functional but highly aesthetic objects reflecting widespread popular practices, works by neurodivergent individuals, and artworks as fragments entangled in private mythologies. Presented non-chronologically, the works in the exhibition will be visually clustered to reveal not only their individuality but also their commonalities.

This exhibition is supported in part by The Bresler Foundation, Fleur Bresler, the Juliet Lea Hillman Simonds Foundation, the American Folk Art Society, the David Davies and Jack Weeden Fund for Exhibitions, the Stacy C. Hollander Fund for Exhibitions, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature.

Learning and engagement programming is sponsored in part by the Sparkjoy Foundation and Con Edison.

A special thank you to the many individuals who have gifted the artworks included in this presentation, as well as to Sadé Ayorinde and Steffi Ibis Duarte for their curatorial assistance.

For media inquiries, please email [email protected].

Time: 11:30 am — 6:00 pm

Please visit the American Folk Art Museum’s ticketing page if you wish to reserve your ticket in advance. Admission is always free.