Linda Patch over at the National Heritage Museum sent me the skinny on an exhibition of the work of 70 Massachusetts artists opening in the very cradle of America, Lexington, Massachusetts. Here's the top of her press release:
National Heritage Museum PremieresSphere: Related Content
Keepers of Tradition: Art and Folk Heritage in Massachusetts
May 18, 2008 through February 8, 2009
The National Heritage Museum and the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC) proudly announce Keepers of Tradition: Art and Folk Heritage in Massachusetts, a major new exhibition opening May 18, 2008 in Lexington. The exhibition will feature over 100 works by 70 Massachusetts artists who preserve and revitalize deeply rooted traditions. Reflecting the populace of Massachusetts, their art takes many expressive forms—from Native American basketry to Yankee wooden boats, Armenian lace, Chinese seals, Puerto Rican santos, and Irish music and dance. Passed down from person to person within both long-settled and new immigrant communities, traditional art involves the shaping of deeply held cultural values into meaningful artistic forms.
These keepers of tradition are recognized in their communities as outstanding practitioners of craft, music, dance, and sacred arts. Yet much of this work is hidden to the public at large, remaining essentially unknown beyond the local community in which it flourishes.
Keepers of Tradition draws upon eight years of field research by MCC folklorists. “This documentary fieldwork has taken us into the homes, kitchens, workshops, dance halls, places of worship, parade routes, and other gathering places where traditional art is produced, used, valued, and displayed,” says curator Maggie Holtzberg.
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