Talking with Bill Cunningham at Front Street in his Visionary Folk Art Gallery.
Lots of people will be coming to Front Street this weekend. Over 150 street artists, many nationally known, will be painting murals and over 100 artist studios will be open. While you’re there you should check out Visionary Folk Gallery. It’s in the small building that shares a parking lot with Building 200.
Bill told me he’s been making folk art since the 1970’s, when he and his grandfather created things together. He has work in the Small Museum of Folk Art and in the Southern Alagaines Museum in Pennsylvania. Bill has made a lot of art with bottle caps, like the basket shown here.
Bill has an extensive personal collection of folk art, some of which is for sale in his shop. I asked him to tell me about this blue piece with the lightbulb. “That’s by Jim Kopp. He lives in Casper, Wyoming. He’s had several museum shows and is collected by a lot of people.”
“The drawing of three people is by S L Jones, who has several pieces in the Smithsonian. He started carving when he retired from the railroad. Then he started painting his carvings and then doing a series of drawings like this one.”
“One of the things people like about folk art is that it’s affordable. You can buy work from successful folk artists – people who have had major exhibitions and whose work has been bought by museums – for less than $100.”
