Greg Sept. 30: Folk art?

For Greg's discussion group on Sept. 30, we'll be discussing folk and outsider art by reading:
= "Art in the Streets: Why does the art world still disregard community pageantry?" by Greg Cook, Art New England, March/April 2013.
= "Composition in Black and White: A collector's fight to get an untrained artist into the canon" by Paige Williams, New Yorker, Aug. 12 & 19, 2013.

Questions to consider: Are museums correct to consider fine art more important than folk or outsider art? What are the differences between these types of art? How do we decide which art and artists get included in our museums and histories and which do not? How do art market concerns shape these definitions?

Related but not required: "About, With & For," an exhibition of artists addressing "various aspects of folklife," is at the Boston Center for the Arts from Oct. 4 to Dec. 1.

Research paper update:

1. Students must provide a brief written update on which artist they have chosen and when they are scheduled to interview them. The sooner you interview the artist the better.

2. Discussion classes of week of Oct. 21: Turn in one-page transcript of (part of) the interview.

3. Discussion classes of week of Oct. 28: Final research paper due.

Assignments will lose one letter grade for each week they are late. Failure to turn in a paper will result in a zero, which could result in you failing this class.