Does Folk Art belong in a museum?

Does Folk Art belong in a museum? In my opinion, I think that they definitely belong in a museum. The main reason why I think so is because museum is a building in which objects of artistic, cultural, historical or scientific interest are kept and shown to the public. And Folk Art is rooted in traditions that come from cmmunity, culture and history. Therefore, they are cultural and historical masterpieces which is deserved to be shown in the museum.

Before I wrote this draft, I tried to understand more specific definition of Folk Art. I searched on the internet about "What is folk art?" and get the basic definition listed below.

"Art originating among the common people of a nation or region and usually reflecting their traditional culture, especially everyday or festive items produced or decorated by unschooled artists."

Folk artists generally do not attend art school to learn their skills, they are highly skilled artists even some people may not think they are professional . They get inspiration from their living environment, tribal, or religious. They use materials which are available most of the time, including cloth, wood, paper, metal and so on. If they are unable to find traditional materials, it's always easy to find something new to substitute. After I saw some examples exhibited in the museum, I found it is not just a type of art; it 's the record to help us memorize the impressive and precious scene or thing in our memory. Looking through those folk arts in the world, we can understand their culture, custom and life at some specific time when those folk arts are made.

The main advantage from the folk art is that it doesn't have any limit or need to use some certain painting technique. Folk artists can decide what favorite colors they'd like to use. What shapes they want to create or what story they'd like to share from their works. It gives them freedom to create their imagination and convey their feeling or thought they catch from ther life.

Among those examples, I really like those paintings painted by Theora Hamblet. The colors she used from her painting are so beautiful and perfectly match with the scenes she draw. I like how she used the pointlism to build up those trees in her paintings. Some colors she used for leaves are unique and creative, Like purple, yellow and orange. To my astonishment, these colors made the whole painting even more vivid and active than the colors we usually see from the real tree. Though her painting, I can tell that she has deep emotion and affection to her home and all the sceneries around her. Most of the colors she used are bright and soft so every painting looks very harmony and peace like she was telling a lot of good stories or good memories related to her daily life. Besides, I also impressed by Gee's Bend Quilts. The purpose for creating this type of art is not just for entertainment or for spending spare time, they do feel happy and satisfied when they finished their creations. They also made good use of waste materials that may be disposed of because of useless. They gave those materials a new life and make them to became useful and delicate again. I like the feeling that they work as a group in order to accomplish their works together, it makes the art more valuable and touching.

When I finished the painting, I do consider my own project a work of art. I use the skill pointillism and bright colors Theora Hamblet like to use to create my tree. But it's also a part of landscapes which I pictured in the campus. Though my imagination, I create a place which is isolated in the ocean but a refugee to escape from the pressure and complicated reality temporarily in order to relax and regain the energy. It's a small world only exists in that little girl's mind in my painting. Although it's not professional and totally not perfect compared with real art we saw from the museum, I think once you create it, it can be a type of art. For me, education is not important and necessary for creating art. As long as you have passion and creation, everyone can be an artist if they want to.