Date of Submission
Spring 2019
Academic Programs and Concentrations
Art History
Project Advisor 1
Susan Aberth
Abstract/Artist's Statement
An analysis of self-taught artists in the American South centered on the concept of the 'yard show.' This is an in-depth examination of the manner in which evangelical rhetoric and doctrine effects signage, painting, and sculpture. This involves an exploration of the history of evangelicalism in the Southern United States, a critique of the role of the museum in self-taught art, and an analysis of missionary intentions and cults of personality surrounding work by untrained artist. Artist examined in this paper include: Howard Finster, Joe Minter, Herman Dennis, Mary Proctor, Sister Gertrude Morgan, and Nellie Mae Rowe. Thornton Dial and Lonnie Holley are featured tangentially.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Boatwright, Flora Abigail, "Examining Evangelicalism: The Power of Signage, Painting and Sculpture in the Southern Yard Show" (2019). Senior Projects Spring 2019. 166.
https://digitalcommons.bard.edu/senproj_s2019/166
This work is protected by a Creative Commons license. Any use not permitted under that license is prohibited.
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