Session 1 Description:
October 24, 2021
Weathervanes have historically served as both tools for farmers, sailors, and others to predict the wind’s direction, and fanciful, imaginative forms designed to captivate and delight viewers from below. Over time, these works have also become ritual objects imbued with stories, as well as signifiers of communal importance, individual identity, patriotism, status, and romanticized, bygone eras.
This virtual symposium showcases new research examining the rich and complex layers of meaning found within weathervanes. Points of Interest: New Approaches to American Weathervanes is a symposium organized in conjunction with the Museum’s exhibition American Weathervanes: The Art of the Winds and in honor of Elizabeth and Irwin Warren, dedicated advocates of the American Folk Art Museum.
Opening Remarks
- Jason T. Busch, Director and CEO, AFAM
- Elizabeth Warren, President, AFAM
- Robert Shaw, guest curator, author of American Weathervanes: The Art of the Winds, and Editor, Americana Insights
Session 1 Papers and Q&A
- "Weathered Wood: The Materiality of Early American Weathervanes," Laura Turner Igoe, Ph.D., Chief Curator, James A. Michener Art Museum
- "The Ecological Spectacle of Madison Square Garden’s Diana," Katherine Fein, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Art History and Archaeology, Columbia University"
- "George Washington’s Dove of Peace: An Iconic Vane from a Moment of Change," Susan P. Schoelwer, Ph.D., Executive Director, Historic Preservation and Collections and Robert H. Smith Senior Curator, George Washington’s Mount Vernon
