We Are Made of Stories

"Through forty-three artists, born over a span of a hundred years, We Are Made of Stories: Self-Taught Artists in the Robson Family Collection explores the ways in which artists, and the pioneering collectors who recognized the value of their work, brought lasting change to the face of American art. The exhibition and catalogue center on select artists collected by Margaret Z. Robson between the late 1980s and her death in 2014. Robson believed that these artists reflected a truly diverse nation of makers, and critically expanded the boundaries of American art through singular bodies of work. The Smithsonian American Art Museum broke new ground in 1970, showing and collecting folk and self-taught artists who challenged conventional notions about art and artists. In 2016 the Margaret Z. Robson collection was donated to SAAM by Margaret's son, Douglas O. Robson, uniting these kindred visions. Doug Robson has continued to support an expansive vision of art, and the exhibition also features artworks from Doug's own collection, promised to SAAM"--