This exhibition is no longer on view at the National Gallery.

Overview: 121 textiles and sculptures from the collection of the Shelburne Museum included quilts, coverlets, and hooked rugs, weathervanes and whirligigs, decoys, carousel animals, trade signs, scrimshaw, and carved figures.

Organization: The exhibition was organized to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the museum in Shelburne, Vermont, founded by Electra Havemeyer Webb. Deborah Chotner, assistant curator of American art, was the exhibition coordinator in Washington. John Wilmerding proposed that the exhibition should be inaugurated at the National Gallery. Gaillard Ravenel and Mark Leithauser selected and designed the exhibition and Gordon Anson designed the lighting for the National Gallery.

Sponsor: The exhibition was supported by a grant from The New England.

Attendance: 230,446

Catalog: An American Sampler: Folk Art from the Shelburne Museum. Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art, 1987.

Brochure: An American Sampler: Folk Art from the Shelburne Museum. Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art, 1987.

Other Venues: Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, May 7–September 4, 1988
Denver Art Museum, October 15, 1988–January 8, 1989
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, February 16, 1989–April 30, 1990
Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut, June 4–September 3, 1989
New-York Historical Society, October 3, 1989–January 7, 1990
Worcester Art Museum, Massachusetts, April 15–August 1, 1990