Backyard Visionaries : Grassroots Art in the Midwest

About the book

On the front page of the New York Times Book Review, artist Red Grooms once exclaimed that grassroots artists are so interesting I can scarcely keep them out of my dreams--visionaries who turned their visions into art on a grand scale even though they had no training in art. In this lavishly illustrated volume, the authors illuminate and celebrate these backyard visionaries and the remarkable works they've created in the Midwest. Grassroots art (sometimes referred to as outsider art) has been variously described as eccentric, unschooled, self-taught, primitive, and raw. Such art is characterized by the use of common, unconventional, or castoff materials; hodge-podge styles; ambitious scale; whimsical expression; and a creative impulse concerned more with the artist's own pleasure than with the critical reception of the work itself. The authors here focus on examples of grassroots art environments--which include sculptures, paintings, and assemblages--in Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, and Oklahoma. They reveal the special character and unexpected delights of works like Samuel P. Dinsmoor's world-famous Garden of Eden; Claude Melton's quirky Nativity Rock Museum; Ed Galloway's fabulous six-story Totem Pole honoring Native Americans; and Dave Woods's idiosyncratic creations refashioned from junk that most people would haul to the dump. Written by members of the Kansas Grassroots Art Association-the oldest organization in the country dedicated to preserving such sites--Backyard Visionaries describes the authors' personal experiences of the artists and their work as well as the artists' cultural contexts and influences. More than 150 photographs--many in color--capture their unusual creations, and a chapter on preservation tells how we can help maintain them. All in all, this is a fascinating tribute to a group of artists that we are only just beginning to understand and appreciate.

Reviews

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Quotes

A joy to read from start to finish. Backyard Visionaries introduces us to the unsung 'makers'--for they rarely considered themselves artists--who have built exceptional environments throughout the Midwest. At first we may regard them as fascinating curiosities, or what one author calls the 'noble savages of the art world, ' working with unrestricted freedom outside the boundaries of artistic and social convention. But the authors reach for a deeper understanding and open our minds to the endlessly intriguing questions these 'makers' inspire.--Elizabeth Broun, Director, National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution

Barbara Brackman Biography

Barbara Brackman (born July 6, 1945) is a quilter, quilt historian and author.Barbara has written numerous books on quilting during the Civil War including Facts & Fabrications: Unraveling the History of Quilts and Slavery, Barbara Brackman's Civil War Sampler, Barbara Brackman's Encyclopedia of Appliqué, America's Printed Fabrics 1770-1890, Civil War Women, Clues in the Calico, Emporia Rose Appliqué Quilts, Making History–Quilts & Fabric from 1890-1970, and Quilts from the Civil War, all published by C&T Publishing. Her Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns contains more than 4000 pieced quilt patterns, derived from printed sources published between 1830 and 1970.She was inducted into the Quilters Hall of Fame of Marion, Indiana in 2001.

Works

Patterns of Progress: Quilts in the Machine Age, Autry Museum of Western Heritage, 1997, ISBN 9781882880034 Quilts from the Civil War. C&T Publishing. 1997. ISBN 978-1-57120-033-4. Prairie Flower: A Year on the Plains. Kansas City Star Books. 2001. ISBN 978-0-9712920-0-0. Women of Design: Quilts in the Newspaper. Kansas City Star Books. 1 January 2004. ISBN 978-0-9746012-9-8. America's Printed Fabrics 1770-1890. C&T Publishing. 2004. ISBN 978-1-57120-255-0. Making History–Quilts & Fabric from 1890-1970. C&T Publishing. 2008. ISBN 978-1-57120-453-0. Clues in the Calico. C&T Publishing. 2009. ISBN 978-1-57120-918-4. Facts & Fabrications-Unraveling the History of Quilts & Slavery: 8 Projects - 20 Blocks - First-Person Accounts. C&T Publishing Inc. 5 November 2010. ISBN 978-1-60705-386-6. Civil War Women: Their Quilts Their Role. C&T Publishing Inc. 5 November 2010. ISBN 978-1-57120-809-5. Barbara Brackman (5 November 2010). Barbara Brackman's Encyclopedia Of Applique: 2000 Traditional and Modern Designs, Updated History of Applique, New! 5 Quilt Projects. C&T Publishing Inc. ISBN 978-1-60705-100-8. Barbara Brackman's Civil War Sampler: 50 Quilt Blocks with Stories from History. C&T Publishing Inc. 1 December 2012. ISBN 978-1-60705-567-9. Emporia Rose Appliqué Quilts. C&T Publishing. 2014. ISBN 978-1-60705-890-8.

Notes

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