{"object":[{"sourceId":{"label":"Source ID","value":"2541"},"copyright":{"label":"Copyright","value":"© Estate of Mary T. Smith / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York"},"creditline":{"label":"Credit Line","value":"Blanchard-Hill Collection, gift of M. Anne Hill and Edward V. Blanchard, Jr."},"endDate":{"label":"End Date","value":"1976"},"sortNumber":{"label":"Sort Number","value":"1998    10   47"},"invno":{"label":"Accession number","value":"1998.10.47"},"medium":{"label":"Medium","value":"Paint on wood panel"},"geographyPlaceregion":{"label":"Place/Region","value":"Hazlehurst"},"media":{"label":"Media","value":{"mediaURL":"https://collection.folkartmuseum.org/internal/media/dispatcher/3843/full","mediaDepartment":"Object Photographs","mediaType":"Image","mediaId":"3843"}},"title":{"label":"Title","value":"Untitled"},"geographyCity":{"value":"Hazlehurst"},"textEntriesWebsitedisplaytext":{"value":"An art environment can be described as an evolving display of architectural components and sculptures by an artist on his or her private land, which interferes publicly. Among these are the \u201cyard shows\u201d created by black artists in the American South. This cultural phenomenon, which illustrates the persistence of African visual traditions in the United States, was expressed primarily in secret behind and inside residences for a century until they began to be noticed by the outside world during the late 1960s. Mary T. Smith started to decorate her yard, located on the main street leading into Hazlehurst, Mississippi, after her retirement in 1975. She delineated her acre property with strips cut from corrugated metal and punctuated the fence with painted plaques depicting African-derived protective figures and watchful faces (often self-portraits) with piercing eyes, challenging gestures, enigmatic words, and thought-provoking messages such as \u201cI Know You. Hear I Am\u201d or \u201cI Was in a Rake. The Lord Was For Me.\u201d These expressionistic paintings, with their advertising style, bold lines, and contrasting colors, were clearly seen by passersby. In this place of her own, Smith could circumvent the stigma of a hearing impairment that often left her feeling socially misunderstood. \u201cI don\u2019t go nowhere no more. I can\u2019t hear nothing. I don\u2019t need nothing. I got it all here. My church. The Lord. Jesus.\u201d As collector William S. Arnett recounted, \u201cShe also could dress her message. An interesting relationship existed between Smith\u2019s wardrobe and her art. In her closet, Smith kept an extensive dress collection defined, as was her yard, by juxtapositions of the spiritual and the mundane.\u201dValérie Rousseau, \u201cUntitled,\u201d exhibition label for Self-Taught Genius: Treasures from the American Folk Art Museum. Stacy C. Hollander and Valérie Rousseau, curators. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2014. Object information is a work in progress and may be updated with new research. Records are reviewed and revised, and the American Folk Art Museum welcomes additional information.　To help improve this record, please email photoservices@folkartmuseum.org"},"collections":{"label":"Collections","value":"Paintings"},"geography":{"label":"Geography","value":"Hazlehurst"},"id":{"label":"Id","value":"153950"},"geographyState":{"value":"Mississippi"},"signed":{"label":"Signed","value":"verso: 'Mary T Smith'"},"geographyCountry":{"value":"United States"},"onview":{"label":"On View","value":"0"},"people":{"label":"Artist / Maker","value":{"displayOrder":"1","personRole":"Artist","personID":"803","content":"Mary T. Smith"}},"classifications":{"label":"Classification(s)","value":"Paintings"},"textEntries":{"label":"Text Entries","value":"An art environment can be described as an evolving display of architectural components and sculptures by an artist on his or her private land, which interferes publicly. Among these are the \u201cyard shows\u201d created by black artists in the American South. This cultural phenomenon, which illustrates the persistence of African visual traditions in the United States, was expressed primarily in secret behind and inside residences for a century until they began to be noticed by the outside world during the late 1960s. Mary T. Smith started to decorate her yard, located on the main street leading into Hazlehurst, Mississippi, after her retirement in 1975. She delineated her acre property with strips cut from corrugated metal and punctuated the fence with painted plaques depicting African-derived protective figures and watchful faces (often self-portraits) with piercing eyes, challenging gestures, enigmatic words, and thought-provoking messages such as \u201cI Know You. Hear I Am\u201d or \u201cI Was in a Rake. The Lord Was For Me.\u201d These expressionistic paintings, with their advertising style, bold lines, and contrasting colors, were clearly seen by passersby. In this place of her own, Smith could circumvent the stigma of a hearing impairment that often left her feeling socially misunderstood. \u201cI don\u2019t go nowhere no more. I can\u2019t hear nothing. I don\u2019t need nothing. I got it all here. My church. The Lord. Jesus.\u201d As collector William S. Arnett recounted, \u201cShe also could dress her message. An interesting relationship existed between Smith\u2019s wardrobe and her art. In her closet, Smith kept an extensive dress collection defined, as was her yard, by juxtapositions of the spiritual and the mundane.\u201dValérie Rousseau, \u201cUntitled,\u201d exhibition label for Self-Taught Genius: Treasures from the American Folk Art Museum. Stacy C. Hollander and Valérie Rousseau, curators. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2014. Object information is a work in progress and may be updated with new research. Records are reviewed and revised, and the American Folk Art Museum welcomes additional information.　To help improve this record, please email photoservices@folkartmuseum.org"},"beginDate":{"label":"Begin Date","value":"1976"},"displayDate":{"label":"Date","value":"1976"},"exhibitions":{"label":"Exhibitions","value":[{"exhibitionDisplayDate":"Monday, October 15, 2018 - Thursday, February 7, 2019","exhibitionEndISODate":"2019-02-07","exhibitionID":"227","exhibitionISOBeginDate":"2018-10-15","exhibitionBeginDate":"2018","exhibitionTitle":"Roadside Attraction","exhibitionEndDate":"2019"},{"exhibitionDisplayDate":"Wednesday, November 15, 2023 - Sunday, March 24, 2024","exhibitionEndISODate":"2024-03-24","exhibitionID":"254","exhibitionISOBeginDate":"2023-11-15","exhibitionBeginDate":"2023","exhibitionTitle":"Marvels of My Own Inventiveness","exhibitionEndDate":"2024"},{"exhibitionDisplayDate":"Tuesday, May 13, 2014 - Sunday, August 17, 2014","exhibitionEndISODate":"2014-08-17","exhibitionID":"171","exhibitionISOBeginDate":"2014-05-13","exhibitionBeginDate":"2014","exhibitionTitle":"Self-Taught Genius","exhibitionEndDate":"2014"}]},"dimensions":{"label":"Dimensions","value":"32 x 48 x 1/4 \" (81.3 x 121.9 x 0.6 cm)Frame: 33 1/4 x 49 1/4 x 1 1/2 \" (84.5 x 125.1 x 3.8 cm)"}}]}