Handed Down, Passed Along Exhibit Panels

This low-security traveling exhibition consisted of free-standing text and image banners, exhibit cases with art objects, and an educator's toolkit, which offered host communities the opportunity to produce and add their own art project to the exhibition. The exhibition was supported by a research project to document the artistic heritage of the Wiregrass Region, which is located in the southeastern corner of the state of Alabama, above the panhandle of Florida. The region is so named for the abundance of a tough, wiry grass that was eradicated by farmers in the early 20th century. Today, very little of the grass can be found. The region is known for peanut farming and has been dubbed "The Peanut Capital of the World".

 

In 2008, the Wiregrass Museum of Art -- one of only a handful of art organizations in a region of more than 650,000 people -- began a project to document the artistic heritage of the Wiregrass. A field researcher was retained with the goal of determining what our unique artistic forms were, as well as how and why they had evolved. The project was funded by a grant from Metropolitan Life and the Alabama State Council on the Arts.

 

After a year of field work, the Museum began assembling works that reflected the findings of the research. Research indicated that much of the region's artistic heritage could be attributed to the ingenuity required by the region's inhabitants to survive in the area's environment and establish communities. Forms of expression reflected family, religion and love of the land. Dominate materials included wood and re-purposed objects.

 

The exhibition traveled for a 18 months to low-security sites such as libraries and community centers throughout the Wiregrass. The goal was to create awareness and appreciation of the Wiregrass' unique art forms first within our own region, and then to extend that understanding to others.