Image captions and visitor information is typed at the end of this 
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Media Contact: Marguerite Gawron (231) 720-2574

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 25, 2010

Detour Art—Outsider, Folk Art, and Visionary Environments Coast to Coast
Art and Photographs from the Collection of Kelly Ludwig

The Muskegon Museum of Art is proud to present Detour Art—Outsider, Folk 
Art, and Visionary Environments Coast to Coast, Art and Photographs from 
the Collection of Kelly Ludwig, scheduled to open September 16 and run 
through November 7, 2010

Detour Art highlights art and images by visionaries, untrained artists, 
and folk creators found along the back roads of America. It honors the 
creative spirit that is at once traditional and whimsical, spiritual and 
irreverent, earthy and sublime. The exhibit is an informative 
introduction to contemporary American folk art, and echoes the 
collector’s passion and intrigue in creative expression off the beaten path.

Inspired by her work with the PBS show “Rare Visions and Roadside 
Revelations,” Kelly Ludwig, designer, author, and photographer, has 
collected outsider, contemporary folk art and self-taught artwork and 
captured images of visionary environments from all regions. It 
exemplifies the diversity of creative talent among these individuals and 
how it permeates the entire country, not just the Deep South.

The exhibit features a wide variety of selected artists who work outside 
the mainstream and whose art contagiously evoke joy, wonder, and 
inspiration. It includes work by Thornton Dial, Mose Tolliver, Jimmy Lee 
Sudduth, Howard Finster, Minnie Adkins, Linvel and Lillian Barker, “The 
Baltimore Glassman,” Sulton Rogers, Mary T. Smith, and James Harold 
Jennings. Among the folk art environments documented are S. P. 
Dinsmoor’s The Garden of Eden, Leonard Knight’s Salvation Mountain, 
Kenny Hill’s Garden of Salvation, Dr. Evermor’s Forevertron, and The 
Grotto of the Redemption.

Outsider art, visionary art, or folk art is a pure root art form, 
consider it visual blues or jazz. It’s the spirit of both the art and 
the artists that captivates. Like the Delta Blues, contemporary folk art 
also shares the desire for strong narrative of the artist’s life and times.

There are a variety of motivations as to why untrained artists create: 
physical or psychological disability, retirement, and inspiration 
through a vision, personal loss, or pure chance. The results often 
extend beyond the actual art. Studies have shown that people who stay 
mentally active actually live longer than people who stay physically 
active. The reason for longevity can be as simple, yet as profound, as 
just having a reason to wake up in the morning.

The artists represented within this show (and in every town across the 
country) are a testament to triumph over odds. Many of their stories 
follow a similar path: a life struggle, then purpose found through 
expression and the creation of art. Creativity pays little attention to 
convention, geographic boundaries, race, gender, age, or approval. It is 
generally a triumphant journey.

The showing here in Muskegon is part of a national tour over two year 
period, containing approximately 90 objects and eight photomurals from 
the collection of Kelly Ludwig. The tour was developed and managed by 
Smith Kramer Fine Art Services, an exhibition tour development company 
in Kansas City, Missouri.

RELATED PROGRAMS

Thursday, September 16
Opening Reception & Lecture
5:00 pm Reception
6:00 pm Lecture by Kelly Ludwig
The public is invited to the Detour Art opening reception and lecture. 
Refreshments will be served. The event is free.

Sunday, September 19, 2:00 pm
Cinema Sunday Film
Valerie and her Week of Wonders (Valerie a týden divů)
Director: Jaromil Jireš, 1970 (77 mins.)
Czech with English subtitles
Free with Museum Membership or with Museum Admission.
In a surreal film far outside of mainstream cinema, 13-year-old Valerie 
discovers she is becoming a woman. As her adolescent fantasies take on a 
sinister hue, lavishly costuming the secrets of her sexuality in a 
dream-like fairytale, Valerie finds her innocence is threatened by a 
pact for erotic beauty her ugly Grandmother has made with a 
vampire-priest, a fate only a pair of magical pearl earrings can 
prevent. Yet nothing here is what it seems, the monster and the 
Grandmother may be Valerie’s parents, and their sinister plot only a 
Freudian-influenced version of the adult world. [MMA’s film club screens 
famous films of art cinema from all over the world, focusing on the key 
works of cinema’s major directors. Each screening is introduced by a 
short scholarly account the film’s cultural and historical importance 
and followed by an open discussion. Programmer E. J. Hamacher has a 
Masters of Arts in film history and theory from Wayne State University 
and is the author of Permanent Revolution: The Documentary Film in Cuba. 
He currently teaches the Introduction to Cinema class at Muskegon 
Community College.]

Thursdays, October, 1:00–3:00 pm
Open Tours
Drop in Thursday afternoons in October to tour Detour Art with MMA 
docents. Reservation is not required.

Saturday, October 9, 10:00 am – 3:00 pm
Wild Things Super Saturday
Free Family Fun Day
Watch Where the Wild Things Are, create your own Wild Things mask, and 
discover wild art as you tour Detour Art. Free admission and activities. 
Watch out! Things will get wild and crazy on this Super Saturday. Enjoy 
Where the Wild Things Are on the MMA’s big screen, create your own Wild 
Things mask, and discover wild art as you tour Detour Art.
10:00 am & 1:00 pm Film
Where the Wild Things Are and Other Maurice Sendak Stories
(35 mins.) Watch the stories of Maurice Sendak come to life on screen.
10:00 am – 1:00 pm
Guided Exhibition Tour
Wild things abound in Detour Art. Discover them with a Museum docent.
11:00 am – 2:00 pm
Make & Take
Become a wild thing as we make special Wild Thing masks. Then, scare all 
your friends and family with your new look!

Thursdays; October 14 & 28, November 11; 12:15 pm
Brown Bag Film Series
Takin’ It to the Lakes, Episodes 1–6
Discover outsider art created by Great Lake states artists. This film 
series is part of a Rare Visions and Roadside Revelations program 
produced by Kansas City Public Television/Public Broadcast System. It 
takes viewers all over the U.S. to explore outsider art. The episodes 
highlighted for our fall Brown Bags explore the art created by artists 
in the Great Lake states, which gives great insight into the artistic, 
social, and cultural expression that is displayed in Detour Art.
October 14: Episodes 1 & 2 (60 mins.)
October 28: Episodes 3 & 4 (60 mins.)
November 11: Episodes 5 & 6 (60 mins.)

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IMAGE CAPTIONS

Minnie (born 1934) and Greg Adkins (son)
Little Tiger
Isonville, Kentucky
2006
Sculpture (wood and paint)
15 x 7”

Linvel (1929-2004) and Lillian Barker (1930-1997)
Rabbit
Isonville, Kentucky
1992
Sculpture (wood)
2 ½ x 16 x 9"

Ronald E. (born 1932) and Jessie F. Cooper (born 1931)
Minnow Bucket
Flemingsburg, Kentucky
2002
Sculpture (found object)
24 x 25 ½ x 18 ½”

Homer Green (1910-2002)
Man with Wings 1
Murfreesboro, Tennessee
1990
Sculpture (wood and paint)
26 x 56 x 8"

Mamie Deschillie (born 1920)
Blue Pick Up Truck (wall hanging)
Fruitland, New Mexico
Date unknown
Painting (on cardboard cut-out)
24 x 11”

Reverend Howard Finster (1916-2001)
Gabriel Trumpeting Angel (wall hanging)
Summerville, Georgia
February 22, 1990
Painting on wood (oil or water-based)
50 x 12"

Melissa Polhamus (born 1957)
Iowa (wall hanging)
Virginia Beach, Virginia
Date unknown
Paper, oil or water-based paints
18 x 14"

Matt Sesow (born 1966)
El Gallo (wall hanging)
Washington, DC
2003
Oil pastel on paper
18 x 24"

Stanley Szwarc (born 1929)
Large jewelry box
Berwyn, Illinois
2003
Decorative metal sculpture
6 x 4 ¾ x 10"

Gregory Warmack (born 1948)
Guitar Pharaoh
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
2002
Sculpture (found object)
40” x 15" x 6”

VISITOR INFORMATION

The Muskegon Museum of Art is located at 296 W. Webster Ave. in downtown 
Muskegon. Call 231-720-2570 or visit www.muskegonartmuseum.org for 
information.

Admission:
$5.00 (Free on Thursdays)
Free admission for MMA Members,
Students (with I.D.) and ages 17 and under.
Extra admission may be charged for special exhibitions and events.

Regular Hours (Starts Labor Day):
SUN noon-4:30pm
MON closed
TUES closed (Open June thru August 10am-6pm)
WED 10am-4:30pm
THURS 10am-8pm (Open June thru August 10am-6pm)
FRI 10am-4:30pm
SAT 10am-4:30pm

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Marguerite Gawron
Communications and Public Relations Coordinator
Muskegon Museum of Art
296 W. Webster Ave.
Muskegon MI 49440
tel. 231.720.2574
fax. 231.720.2585
mgawron@mpsk12.net
www.muskegonartmuseum.org