Session 2 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.
Session 2 Papers and Q&A
- "Winds of Change in the 1930s: Weathervanes, the Index of American Design, and Questioning Artistic Canon Formation," Elizabeth McGoey, Ph.D., Ann S. and Samuel M. Mencoff Associate Curator, Arts of the Americas, The Art Institute of Chicago
- "Isamu Noguchi’s Weathervanes: An Artist Animates the Wind," Olivia Armandroff, Ph.D. Student, Art History, University of Southern California
- "Weathervanes and Double Consciousness: History, Provenance, & the Folk Art Canon," William D. Moore, Ph.D., Director, American & New England Studies Program and Associate Professor of American Material Culture, History of Art & Architecture, Boston University
Closing Remarks
Emelie Gevalt, Curatorial Chair for Collections and Curator of Folk Art, AFAM
