In this permanent exhibition, explore the different ways we make, experience, and use folk art in our everyday life. Featuring works from the museum’s Folk Arts Collection, learn more about how we build community, share meaning, and participate in folk art through cultural traditions practiced in the Buffalo-Niagara region including Tuscarora Beadwork, Polish Wycinanki, and Turkish Paper Marbling.

Click here to learn more about some of our region's folk art traditions on our Youtube Channel.

Folk Art is a traditional expression of culture through an object or performance.

Folk Art refers to a wide range of artistic traditions and practices found around the world, including right here in Western New York.

Folk Art is:

• Old and New
• Personal and Shared
• General and Specific

Tradition and innovation guide folk art.

Tradition is cultural knowledge that has been passed on or exchanged with someone else: from how something is made, to what it means, to when it is used.

Innovation is important to folk art as new ideas, meanings, and experiences are added into a tradition over time.

Ebru is a traditional art from Turkey where the artist floats paint on the surface of water, shapes the colors into different designs using metal tools, and then places paper on top to copy the image.

These two ebru artworks were made by Musa and İpek Saracoğlu. Musa first taught his daughter İpek ebru when she was a young child, and it continues to be an important part of their family tradition.

Community is the heart of folk art.

Folk art brings people together by being a common, everyday form of art to interact with.

Everything that goes into making or using folk art is learned from someone else: a family member, a friend, or another artist.

Whenever we make or use folk art we identify ourselves as belonging to a community: a group of people who share experiences, values, and customs.

More than just looks, folk art is about meaning.

By making and using folk art we connect personal and shared meanings, balancing individual experiences with wider ideas like cultural identity or a community concern.

Familiar patterns, symbols, and figures tell culturally significant messages rooted in the knowledge and experiences exchanged between community members.

From the motif on a paper-cut banner that decorates a house for a holiday to a vibrant hand-made mask worn at a festival parade, what folk art can mean for someone is drawn not only from its appearance, but also how and when it is used.

Every work of folk art is a story told by its maker: the folk artist.

A folk artist is someone who makes art connected to their community: expressing common ideas through familiar shapes, styles, and materials.

From a master to their apprentice and from full-time practitioners to hobbyists, every work reflects the lives of the folk artist and their community.

Follow the From the Field series on our Youtube Channel to learn more about some local folk artists and other tradition bearers in our area.

The Castellani Art Museum's Folk Arts Program works closely with local folk artists and communities in preserving and presenting their cultural traditions.

Fieldwork
Photographs, interviews, and video recordings of local cultural traditions are the basis of our work, and help create a digital archive of Western New York's cultural heritage.

Programs and Projects
Hands-on workshops, demonstrations, and other projects provide opportunities for folk artists, musicians, and community members to directly share their traditions with new audiences.

Exhibitions
Rotating folk art exhibitions highlight local expressions of ethnic, religious, regional, and occupational culture, developed in close collaboration with the artists and communities featured.

Folk art is made and found all around us: in our homes, among our friends, and throughout our communities.

Experiencing a new form of folk art is not only a great way to learn about different values, ideas, and cultural expressions, but also encourages you to recognize and reflect on your own community traditions - and the role those traditions have played in your life.