Events for Feb. 2025

Vernick Auditorium

Join us on a visual journey through Japan’s rich cultural history, where wagasa has been more than just a practical object; it has become a symbol of elegance and an integral part of Japanese art and tradition. Originating over a thousand years ago, wagasa was introduced from China but quickly evolved into a distinctly Japanese craft. These umbrellas are not merely functional; they are a testament to the meticulous craftsmanship and aesthetic sensibilities that have defined Japanese artistry through the ages. This presentation will delve into the historical context and artistic legacy of wagasa, featuring celebrated ukiyo-e, or woodblock prints, by master artists such as Suzuki Harunobu, Kitagawa Utamaro, and Utagawa Kunisada.Registration is free for FOFA Members.  All participants must be current members of FOFA.  A Single membership allows access to one ticket. A Dual membership allows for two tickets.

For information on Joining FOFA, a membership group of the Museum of New Mexico Foundation, please click here.

For questions, please email friendsoffolkart@gmail.com

FREE Family Program! Join us for our monthly Family Mornings at Folk Art program featuring storytime, art activity, and explorations in the galleries. 

February 16 - Spectacular Kites & Celebration! Come welcome the Persian New Year, Nowruz, join us to celebrate the spring equinox. Make a kite and spring egg. 

*ASL Interpretation Provided

Following Dates:

• March 16 - Pysanky Ukrainian Easter Eggs
• April 13 - Earth Day for All!

Included with Museum Admission | RSVP in Advance Here

ASL Interpretation Provided

Join us for a public talk with Dr. Andrea L. Mays, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Africana Studies at the University of New Mexico. 

Creative and expressive arts, and the politics of such arts, are extensions of the societies from which they emerge. Through telephone wire weaving, South African artists have mobilized traditional aesthetics, imaginative aspirations, and married impulses with function and form in creative expression to arrive at vibrant articulations of usable, and useful, art. This talk explores the relationship between art, resistance, and cultural resiliency through the original South African material form of telephone wire weaving.  Dr. Mays unpacks the political landscape behind this unique cultural form, US history, and both popular and entertainment culture of the time, to explore the relationship between the arts and resistance across the Atlantic during South African Apartheid.

Andrea L. Mays, Ph.D., is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Africana Studies at the University of New Mexico. Her work focuses on African American and Black Atlantic Culture and Politics, Visual Culture Studies, and Black Feminist Studies. Her research interests include Black Atlantic expressions of critical and resistance politics in visual and literary culture. Mays’ forthcoming essays include "Allan Rohan Crite Reporting from the Pantheon of American Racial Politics" and "How to Recognize a Hostage Situation When You’re in It: The Politics of Blackness and Black Atlantic Being", which undertakes questions of Black peoples’ investments in nation-states politics, and the cost and limits of such investments.  

Mays’ public scholarship includes essays and articles published in USA Today, The Albuquerque Journal, The Santa Fe Reporter, IKON Feminisms Commemorative Digital Archive, and the Morgan State University Global Journalism Review.

Join us in the Hands-on Studio at MOIFA for art projects, coloring sheets, and self-guided treasure hunts. Add to your explorations at the museum with fun art making, facilitated by our fantastic MOIFA docents.

February 23 | Make a Dragon Puppet!

Following Dates and Time: 

March 2 & 23 | Animals in Folk Art!

April 6 & 27 | Make a Mini Community!

The program is free with Museum Admission. Museum admission is always free for Kids and Members.

Event included with Admission  

Join us for the public opening of the small showcase of Paraphernalia of an Active Mind: The Girard Foundation Archives, a long-term display of 133 decorated research file boxes from the personal collection of Alexander Girard. This ongoing mini vitrine, just outside the Bartlett Library, shares archival materials from this collection and will be on continuous rotation.

“We are so excited to share these colorful cases from the archives and showcase the diverse ephemera that Alexander Girard collected for inspiration,” said Charlie Lockwood, Museum of International Folk Art Executive Director. “This project has been a long time in the works, and it will deepen our understanding of Girard’s collection and serve as a fresh and vibrant introduction to the Bartlett Library and Archives for our visitors and local community.”