Join us for the public opening of the small showcase of Paraphernalia of an Active Mind: The Girard Foundation Archives, a long-term display of 133 decorated research file boxes from the personal collection of Alexander Girard. This ongoing mini vitrine, just outside the Bartlett Library, shares archival materials from this collection and will be on continuous rotation.

Event included with Admission

“We are so excited to share these colorful cases from the archives and showcase the diverse ephemera that Alexander Girard collected for inspiration,” said Charlie Lockwood, Museum of International Folk Art Executive Director. “This project has been a long time in the works, and it will deepen our understanding of Girard’s collection and serve as a fresh and vibrant introduction to the Bartlett Library and Archives for our visitors and local community.”

In May 1961, Alexander and Susan Girard created the Girard Foundation to manage their collection of folk art and toys. As Alexander Girard amassed research materials on myriad subjects, he organized these in roughly 200 cardboard file boxes labelled by hand and decorated with papers both from his international collection and of his own design. In 1996, the Museum of International Folk Art became the home to two-thirds of that collection with the rest kept by the Girard family or donated to the Vitra Design Museum in Germany.

Additionally, to complement the new Girard display, the approaching hallway has been renovated and now features the return of the wood plaque, hand-carved by Gustave Baumann, which was presented as a gift to the Museum upon its founding by his friend, Florence Dibell Bartlett. A skilled painter, printmaker, and draftsman, Baumann also inscribed Miss Bartlett’s statement “The art of the craftsman is a bond between the peoples of the world” above the museum’s entrance at the opening in 1953, as evidenced by the new archival photos mounted in the hallway.

Paraphernalia of an Active Mind: The Girard Foundation Archives is made possible through the generous support of the International Folk Art Foundation.