New Exhibition Traces the Rise of Self-Taught Artists and Their Game-Changing Contributions to American Art

“We Are Made of Stories: Self-Taught Artists in the Robson Family Collection”
Opens at the Smithsonian American Art Museum July 1

Artists without formal training, who learned from family, community and personal journeys, have long been a presence in American art. But it was not until the 1980s, with the help of dedicated collector-advocates, that the collective force of their creative vision and presence reshaped the mainstream art world. “We Are Made of Stories: Self-Taught Artists in the Robson Family Collection” traces the rise of untrained artists in the 20th century and examines how, despite wide-ranging societal, racial and gender-based obstacles, their creativity and bold self-definition became major forces in American art.

"We Are Made of Stories” is on view from July 1 through March 26, 2023, at the museum’s main building in Washington, D.C. It will not travel.

The exhibition celebrates Douglas O. Robson’s 2016 gift of 93 artworks collected by his mother, Margaret Z. Robson (1932–2014). Margaret Robson embraced art that reflected diverse and personal journeys, and she supported museums and scholars in making it more available to the public. Her son now carries these efforts into the future. The exhibition features selected works from the original gift, 32 additional promised gifts and a major painting by Dan Miller that Douglas Robson donated to the museum in 2022. It is organized by Leslie Umberger, curator of folk and self-taught art at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

“We are delighted to share recent gifts from the Robson Family collection with the public, and we celebrate Margaret and Doug Robson’s commitment to supporting the creativity of American artists,” said Stephanie Stebich, the Margaret and Terry Stent Director of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. “Since the 1970s, the Smithsonian American Art Museum has been a trailblazer in recognizing the broadest range of artistic expression. With this exhibition, SAAM continues its commitment to building a truly diverse collection that reflects the unique stories and voices of all artists.”

“We Are Made of Stories” confronts issues of marginalization that extend far beyond definitions of “self-taught” versus “academically trained” artists. Featuring 110 artworks, the exhibition examines the extraordinary lives of 43 artists, including James Castle, Thornton Dial Sr., William Edmondson, Howard Finster, Bessie Harvey, Sister Gertrude Morgan, the Philadelphia Wireman, Nellie Mae Rowe, Judith Scott and Bill Traylor, among others. By bringing the personal stories of the artists into focus, the depth and meaning of the artworks they made comes more fully into view.

“The works of art in the Robson Family Collection give voice to people who faced challenge, oppression and often extreme marginalization in their lifetimes, but by leaving their imprint in the form of art, moved the needle toward a more enlightened age, a more humanistic moment,” Umberger said. “This project amplifies unique perspectives and argues that multivocality is essential for a full and genuine picture of the United States. It looks at the solitary paths many of these artists traveled, as well as the collective ground they gained by asserting their personal views of the world and telling their own story.”

An introductory video features interviews with curator Umberger and collector Douglas Robson. Fourteen artists identified as “game changers” are examined in greater depth in the exhibition through text panels featuring biographical information and portraits of the artists. Through audio clips, the voices of artists Calvin and Ruby Black, Finster and Morgan are in the galleries and provide critical insight into select artists’ practices and unique environments. In-gallery kiosks highlight additional artworks from the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s collection, allowing visitors to further explore the creativity of these influential artists.

About The Collection

The Smithsonian American Art Museum was among the first major museums to collect works by self-taught artists and to advocate for a diverse populist voice within the context of what is traditionally considered art. The museum began collecting this kind of work in 1970, when James Hampton’s astonishing “The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations’ Millennium General Assembly” came to light in a makeshift studio not far from the museum following the artist’s death. This iconic work serves as the foundation of a collection that tells an expanded story of America.

Several major collectors, with their transformative donations, helped build the collection over the past half-century. In the early 1980s and 1990s, Chuck and Jan Rosenak donated important artworks by self-taught artists to the museum. The museum’s largest single acquisition of this material came in 1986 with more than 500 works from the groundbreaking collection of Herbert Waide Hemphill Jr., which firmly established the museum’s commitment to untrained artists. Important gifts from William Arnett, Orren and Marilyn Bradley, David L. Davies, the Kallir family, Mike Wilkins and Sheila Duignan, and others followed. Douglas O. Robson’s gift of art and program support is among the largest donations to the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s self-taught program and confirms the collection as among the most significant anywhere. The museum has had dedicated gallery spaces for folk and self-taught art for more than 50 years.

Free, In-Person Public Programs

A symposium titled “We Are Made of Stories: Selfhood and Experience in Art” will take place Friday, Oct. 7, from 1 to 5 p.m. ET. It is the second program in the museum’s Margaret Z. Robson Symposium Series. Speakers include Matthew Higgs, director and chief curator at White Columns; Sharon Patricia Holland, the Townsend Ludington Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department of American Studies at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; Katherine Jentleson, the Merrie and Dan Boone Curator of Folk and Self-Taught Art at the High Museum of Art; Mark Pascale, the Janet and Craig Duchossois Curator of Prints and Drawings at the Art Institute of Chicago; and Leisa Rundquist, professor of art history at the University of North Carolina, Asheville. The symposium will be moderated by Umberger, and it will take place in-person in the museum’s McEvoy Auditorium and will be webcast live through YouTube. Registration is required; visit AmericanArt.si.edu/events for details.

The documentary film “This World Is Not My Own” about artist Nellie Mae Rowe will be screened in the museum’s McEvoy Auditorium Thursday, March 16, 2023, at 6 p.m. ET. A discussion with the filmmakers Ruchi Mital, Petter Ringbom and Marquise Stillwell immediately follows the screening. Registration is required; visit AmericanArt.si.edu/events for details.

Books

The lavishly illustrated catalog features more than 100 works with essays by Robson and Umberger that offer important and critically expansive contributions to the understanding of self-taught artists and how their individual stories have altered and enriched the complex history of American art. Co-published by the Smithsonian American Art Museum in association with Princeton University Press, it is available for purchase ($45) in the museum store and online.

Credit

“We Are Made of Stories: Self-Taught Artists in the Robson Family Collection” is organized by the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Generous support has been provided by the Herbert Waide Hemphill Jr. American Folk Art Fund, Shaun and Andy Block, Steven Czekala, James and Catherine Denny, Sheila Duignan and Mike Wilkins, Travis Marquette and Sean Kosofsky, the Rumsfeld Family Fund, Jeff Rosensweig and Natalie Allen, and the Share Fund.

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Note to the Editors: Selected high-resolution images for publication only are available through the museum’s Dropbox account. Email AmericanArtPressOffice@si.edu to request the link.

About the Smithsonian American Art Museum and its Renwick Gallery

The Smithsonian American Art Museum is the flagship museum in the United States for American art and craft. It is home to one of the most significant and inclusive collections of American art in the world. The museum’s main building, located at Eighth and G streets N.W., is open daily from 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. The museum’s Renwick Gallery, a branch museum dedicated to contemporary craft, is located on Pennsylvania Avenue at 17th Street N.W. and is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Check online for current hours and admission information. Admission is free. Follow the museum on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. Smithsonian information: (202) 633-1000. Museum information (recorded): (202) 633-7970. Website: americanart.si.edu.

Press Images

A colorful painted fan with a woman sitting down
Press - Robson, Sister Gertrude Morgan, Fan

Sister Gertrude Morgan, Fan, ca. 1970, paint and ink on card, 9 3⁄4 × 8 1⁄2 in.; irregular, double-sided, Smithsonian American Art Museum, The Margaret Z. Robson Collection, Gift of John E. and Douglas O. Robson, 2016.38.43r-v