American Folk Art Museum & Gallery - Tallahassee Florida

We passed by the American Folk Art Museum & Gallery as we raced out of Tallahassee headed to the Gulf Coast and Panama City. We did a quick U-turn.

Unfortunately, the outdoor "museum" was closed, and there were three loud dogs standing guard. This extremely funky-looking place was put together by a missionary, and sign after sign with spiritual messages were the main thing we could see. The "centerpieces" we could see from the road were a solid gold limousine and a statue constructed totally from bicycle wheels and tires. We would have loved to see inside, but tours are by appointment only or by chance.

As we have learned so often on our travels, what at first glance appeared to be really odd often isn't odd at all. After a little research, we learned that what we had seen wasn't a crazy junkyard but the workplace of a highly-regarded self-taught grassroots artist. Using found objects from her junkyard, Mary L. Proctor (known as "Missionary Mary") crafts three dimensional assembled works from buttons, mirrors, jewelry, and other odds and ends. Some works are inspired by bible scripture and others by memories of her grandmother or her childhood. Most include written messages of spiritual truths or life lessons. Missionary Mary's junkyard is now known as the American Folk Art Museum.

We learned the following from a web page about folk artists:

Mary Proctor was a self-described "Junk Dealer" for years, until a tragedy struck her family. Her grandmother, aunt and uncle were all killed in a house fire. Shortly after this, a grief-struck Mary was given a vision. A voice told her to paint one of the many old doors in her junkyard. Mary listened to the voice and soon found herself painting everything she could find.

Mary sees herself as a Missionary, and her goal is to use her art to spread her message. Typical paintings show stories from her life, or members of her family, and usually include a message, or a lesson that she's learned and wants to share. Mary takes objects that she finds in her junkyard (now called her Folk Art Museum) and adds them to the paintings, usually with hot glue or liquid nails, giving the pieces a three dimensional effect. She uses just about anything in her paintings, from silverware to cut-up dollar bills. Sizes of the pieces run from a foot or so in height to her enormous and impressive doors.

Through her art, Mary has found peace with her past, and a mission in life. She enjoys having visitors to her Museum and enthusiastically guides tours through the compound. There you can see her tower of bicycles (much like Howard Finster's) and several buildings overflowing with paintings and sculptures. The museum includes a Hall of Presidents, in which she's made a life-size replica of every single U.S. President out of cut-up Coke cans, complete with a history and a quote from each one.

Mary is also very interested in Black history and has done pieces honoring important figures like Zora Neale Hurston. In fact, Mary has had a wonderful exhibit at the Zora Neale Hurston Museum in Hurston's hometown of Eatonville, Florida.

Mary's Museum is very easy to get to in Tallahassee. The sight of this energetic and committed woman all dressed up and running a chain saw in the yard is worth a visit by itself.

Location:

Address: 3919 Woodville Hwy, Tallahassee, FL 32311

Phone: 850-656-2879

Directions: Take Highway 363 south from Tallahassee headed in the direction of Woodville.

Date Round America Visited: Aporil 11, 2003.

Additional Information:

www.missionarymary.com

http://detour.webdatabases.net/site_detail.html?ArtistID=10633&ArtID=10633

http://alumnus.caltech.edu/~dacrotty/proctor.html