Grass Roots: African Origins of an American Art October 4, 2009 to January 10, 2010 Grass Roots PhotoTour In Grass Roots: African Origins of an American Art humble yet exquisitely crafted coiled baskets demonstrate one of the enduring contributions of African peoples and cultures to American life. Featuring more than two hundred objects including a myriad of baskets made in the American South and Africa, African sculptures, watercolors from the Charleston Renaissance, historic photographs, and videos of basket makers in South Carolina’s Gullah/Geechee region demonstrating their techniques and telling their stories, the exhibition shows how a simple farm tool once used for processing rice has become a highly collectible work of art and an important symbol of African American identity. Grass Roots: African Origins of an American Art is curated by Enid Schildkrout, chief curator and director of exhibitions and publications at the Museum for African Art, New York, and Dale Rosengarten, curator and historian, Special Collections, College of Charleston Library. The exhibition has been supported, in part, by grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, and the MetLife Foundation’s Museums and Community Connections Program. The National Endowment for the Humanities honored Grass Roots with a “We the People – America’s Historic Places” designation. Additional funding for the video components has been provided by The Henry and Sylvia Yaschik Foundation, the South Carolina Humanities Council and the South Carolina Arts Commission. Grass Roots: African Origins of an American Art is organized by the Museum for African Art, New York, in cooperation with Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture at the College of Charleston, McKissick Museum at the University of South Carolina, and the Sweetgrass Cultural Arts Festival Association. The Los Angeles presentation is made possible through the generosity of Barbara Goldenberg and the Shirley and Ralph Shapiro Director's Discretionary Fund. Funding for the accompanying programs is provided by the Yvonne Lenart Public Programs Fund, and Manus, the support group for the Fowler Museum at UCLA. Media sponsorship provided by edible Los Angeles. News Release Link News Release PDF