DAYTON, OH.- The Dayton Art Institute’s special exhibition offers a unique perspective on the work of the popular folk artist Grandma Moses.

American Sampler: Grandma Moses and the Handicraft Tradition is the first exhibition of its kind to focus on the formal relationships between the handicraft produced by Anna Mary Robertson Moses (1860–1961), better known as Grandma Moses, and her paintings, and to explore the concept of “sampling” from other sources that she employed in her work. Organized by The Dayton Art Institute and curated by Dr. Aimee Marcereau DeGalan, Chief Curator, Curator of European Art, American Sampler is on view November 21, 2015 – February 21, 2016.

Featuring approximately 50 works by Grandma Moses, including her paintings, embroideries, a quilt and other handmade ephemera, along with examples of embroidery from the 17th through 19th centuries, this exhibition presents a new frame through which to view one of America’s most beloved and iconic artists.

Grandma Moses was an accomplished seamstress who did not begin painting until age 78, after arthritis made it difficult for her to embroider. In the remaining 23 years of her life, Grandma Moses became one of America’s most recognized and successful folk artists, drawing on the rich tradition of handiwork that played a major role in her life. Moses also “sampled” from a variety of other media, including popular culture prints, such as Currier & Ives, as well as topographical and birds-eye-view landscapes, all of which served to inform her visual vocabulary.

The exhibition explores the relationship between Moses’ works and early examples of crewel work, crazy quilts, and samplers to establish the tradition of handiwork and how its sense of pattern, form, and space influenced Grandma Moses, as well as illustrating her innovative style. It also examines the impact her own embroidery had upon her painting.

“There was an amazing fluidity between her approach to the mediums of embroidery and painting, most visibly represented in a shared working style on her lap that compressed the perspective in her landscapes, and also in the mark-making—in stitch, and in paint—that she employed on both surfaces,” notes Marcereau DeGalan.

American Sampler includes works on loan from the Galerie St. Etienne in New York City, the Bennington Museum in Bennington, Vermont, and private collectors, as well as a re-creation of her studio by Luken Interiors of Dayton. The exhibition is sure to be of interest to all ages as The Dayton Art Institute’s final exhibition in its “Year of American Art.”

“We’re excited to be able to close out our ‘Year of American Art’ with an exhibition organized by our own curatorial team,” says The Dayton Art Institute’s Director and CEO Michael R. Roediger. “This is a one-of-a-kind exhibition that you won’t see anywhere else in the United States. The homespun art of Grandma Moses is perfect for the holiday season, and we encourage you to ‘make your holidays a masterpiece’ at The Dayton Art Institute.”