NEW YORK, NY.- A fully-accessible, digital archive of 117 issues of magazines published by the American Folk Art Museum from 1971 through 2008 will go online and be available to all beginning December 6, 2013. More than 10,000 pages of Folk Art and The Clarion—including scholarly articles and texts, photographs, illustrations, advertisements, calendars, and more—have been digitized and can be reached via the Museum’s website at www.folkartmuseum.org and following links to “Publications” and “Magazines.” The archive is organized chronologically.

Dr. Anne-Imelda Radice, Ph.D., Executive Director of the Museum, commented: “This invaluable archive is but one way in which the American Folk Art Museum continues to provide education and leadership in the extraordinary fields of both traditional folk art and the creative expressions of the self-taught. Making the issues available online further extends the reach of the Museum and advances our mission.”

The digitization and launch of the archive has been made possible by a generous grant from Museum Trustee Karin Fielding and her husband, Dr. Jonathan Fielding, which matched funding from the Friends of Heritage Preservation. These grants were spurred by a gift from the American Folk Art Society.

Published (on average) three times each year, The Clarion, later called Folk Art, was a preeminent forum for original research and new scholarship in the encompassing field of American folk art. Reflecting the mission of the museum, the articles embraced new perspectives on a wide variety of topics ranging from traditional arts such as portraiture, schoolgirl arts, painted furniture, and pottery, to original discourses on under-recognized artists. Features and articles were written not only by American Folk Art Museum curators, but also by scholars and experts in a variety of fields, with subject matter spanning three centuries. The publications were lavishly illustrated with meticulous care, and included news about the Museum as well as exhibitions around the country, illustrated advertisements from a stellar roster of dealers and auction houses, and other related information.

Tanya Heinrich, the Museum’s Editor and Director of Publications, and a former publisher of the magazines prior to their cessation, directed the project with the assistance of Elena Terhune, a researcher from Smith College.

Currently, the magazines are searchable by issue; the complete index of all issues will be available in the summer of 2014.