Singular Visions: an exploration of individual expression

Hallie Ford’s “Singular Visions” exhibition shows how self-taught can mean a lot of things

A plaque hanging on the wall at the entrance of the “Singular Visions” exhibition at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art offers various definitions: folk art, which often shares a generational connection to traditions and cultural aesthetics; art brut, from the French meaning ‘raw art’ that describes work by people from outside the art-world; and outsider art.

“It’s not necessarily informed by other art,” said Jonathan Bucci, the plaque’s author and Curator of Collections and Exhibitions at Hallie Ford Museum of Art. “It’s from the fringes.”

At a glance, it would be natural to question why a museum on the campus of Willamette University, where art is a major area of study, would dedicate so much space to self-taught artists. 

“Singular Visions probes the dissolving cultural divisions in contemporary art, specifically the historic separation of self-taught and formally educated artists,” Jonathan said in a press release. 

“Singular Visions: Self-Taught Artists from the Permanent Collection,” opened at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art January 2 and will continue through April 22. The exhibition showcases more than 50 works by 29 artists, acquired through donations and purchases.

While all starkly different in size, shape, and form, the pieces all carry a rebellious aura – a sense that they were created despite the artist’s distance from the art world. 

Take for instance “Boy with Shoes,” carved out of wood by Russell Childers in 1978. According to Jonathan, Russell was a self-taught wood carver and was likely autistic. As a child in 1926, he was court-ordered to Fairview Home, an institution in Salem for the developmentally disabled. The piece depicts him with a pair of shoes that were taken away from him on the day he arrived at the institution.

A significant number of other pieces featured in “Singular Visions” are by artists who work with Living Studios, a program for neurodivergent artists with intellectual and developmental disabilities. While originally from Corvallis, Living Studios has a new art program in downtown Salem.

At Hallie Ford, “Singular Visions” is located in two rooms separated by galleries filled with gold-framed paintings and historical artifacts that clearly came from a different place and process. The contrast is striking and, somehow, comforting.

Should you visit this exhibition, maybe you too will get the sense that art belongs just as much to those on the outside. 

This story originally ran in Press Play Salem issue 19 (Spring 2024)