Self-Made: A Century of Inventing Artists

Opening April 28 at the Currier, the acclaimed exhibition from the American Folk Art Museum features paintings, sculptures, photographs, videos, and notebooks from 60 artists who forged a creative life on their own terms outside the art world. This is the first time this exhibition will be on view outside New York City.

Category: Modern and Contemporary, Inspiring, Thought-Provoking

Left: Nicole Appel, Hamburgers, Heels, and High Couture, 2014, American Folk Art Museum

Center: Bill Miller, Metropolitan Park, c. 2003, American Folk Art Museum

Right: Joe Coleman, Sunday Go to Meetin’ (Vest from the artist’s outfit), 1984–ongoing, American Folk Art Museum

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About the exhibition

Self-Made: A Century of Inventing Artists is for everyone who keeps creating on their own terms, even when their life experience doesn't fit the mold.

Featuring a diverse array of work by 60 artists who forged a path outside the traditional art world, Self-Made tells a story about what it means to be and become an artist through the perspectives of the makers themselves.

This exhibition examines the historical definition of the "self-taught artist" in the United States from the early twentieth century to today, challenging familiar myths, illuminating communities of learning and practice, and celebrating a legacy of creative persistence.

See the acclaimed exhibition from the American Folk Art Museum for the first time outside of New York City.

Self-Made: A Century of Inventing Artists  is on view from April 28 through August 22, 2027.