Jeff O.
Yelp
When I first moved the UWS in late 2011, I quickly found the American Folk Art Museum, and as a lover of museums generally and folk art specifically, I was stoked to have a venue like this only six blocks from my apartment. It was one of those early discoveries that make brand-new New Yorkers realize they've put down roots in impossibly rich and fertile cultural soil.
Little did I know that only a few months earlier, the museum had been teetering on the brink of collapse. But thanks to a clarion call from NYT art critic Roberta Smith, and a subsequent infusion of philanthropic funds, this special little institution was saved.
It's hard to overstate the importance of the rescue, because even in a city teeming with magnificent museums, there would be a dreadful void without the AFAM. I'm a member at most of the city's major museums, and I can attest that none of them (including the Met, which is encyclopedic) offer anything in the folk art genre that holds a candle to the AFAM's collection and exhibitions.
Stop by on any given day and you'll likely find one room with rotating selections from the permanent collection, which boasts paintings, textiles, furniture and more. And then, in a few other large rooms that constitute the rest of the museum, you'll find a temporary exhibition virtually guaranteed to impress you and very likely to wow you.
On my most recent visit, the main exhibition was "Avant-Garde Psychiatry and the Birth of Art Brut," a fascinating look at the works and legacy of European psychiatric patients. In addition to being interesting and out of the ordinary, this exhibition reflected a core part of the AFAM's mission, which spotlights overlooked and underappreciated artists and artistic styles.
The museum also does a wonderful job of representing local art; one of my all-time favorite shows was about masonic and fraternal societies that once were abundant around town and left a lasting mark in the form of mystical, occult ornamentation on lodges that have since been converted to residential buildings.
I should add that the museum is free (although donations are encouraged, and memberships are inexpensive), and that it has a really great gift shop full of distinctive merch. So, if you've never been, definitely stop by -- this is a real treasure, and there's no assurance it'll always be around.