John Michael Kohler Arts Center

Purpose: Sustaining Cultural Heritage Over the course of three years, the John Michael Kohler Arts Center (JMKAC) will develop a major project that will sustain cultural heritage through a large-scale exhibition and a scholarly book focused on the works of 18 vernacular environment builders represented in JMKAC's remarkable collection of works by self-taught, vernacular, and folk artists. The project commences a long-term initiative whose the goals are (1) to make this expansive, world-class body of work by vernacular environment builders accessible and meaningful to a broad public and (2) to build JMKAC's leadership capacity in this field. By preserving, researching, exhibiting, documenting, and publishing these works, JMKAC will sustain the cultural heritage of the artists and, by extension, the shared cultural heritage of those belonging to their communities-a heritage and history that would be decontextualized or lost if the art were either isolated or destroyed. Board and staff are firmly committed to this project, understanding its potential long-term impact on the field, on JMKAC, and on the general public.