Folk art usually brings to mind carved wood or quilted cloth, but folk art in metal has an equally long history and astonishing variety.
Visitors will be able to take in this profusion of creativity in copper, iron and steel at Catskills Folk Connection’s exhibit “Folk Art in Metal,” beginning Saturday, Sept. 3 at Hanford Mills Museum’s Feed Mill gallery, 51 County Route 12, East Meredith.
The next day, Sunday, Sept. 4, there will be an artists’ reception at 1:30 p.m., and on Saturday, Sept. 24, several of the artists will demonstrate or present their work at the museum’s Exploration Day.
“Folk Art in Metal” will include works by a coppersmith who shapes copper into natural forms such as leaves, bark and nests that he has seen on his forest walks. An interpreter of historic blacksmithing will display his carefully crafted reproductions as well as original contemporary pieces. A fabricator of large art commissions will show his folk art furniture and sculpture done in a mid-20th century modernist style. A creative car enthusiast will display his whirly gigs made from Volkswagen Beetle parts, and a self-taught metal fabricator will engage viewers with figures made from discarded tools, farm equipment, household utensils and musical instruments.
Hanford Mills Museum is open Wednesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. through 4 p.m. for exhibit viewing. For free admittance to the exhibit, go to the admissions office. You may also wish to participate in museum tours of water-driven wood-working machinery and the 10-foot waterwheel, for which admission is $9.
Discounts available at hanfordmills.org. For more information about tours call the museum at 607-278-5744. For more about the exhibit “Folk Art in Metal” contact Ginny Scheer at gscheer.mcs@gmail.com.
