On view through December 10 at the Historic Arkansas Museum in Little Rock, Mystery and Benevolence: Masonic and Odd Fellows Folk Art from the American Folk Art Museum. I saw it earlier this year at the Huntsville Museum of Art (it closed there in June) and if you have the opportunity to see it in LR or elsewhere, it is not to be missed.
AFAM describes it this way:
Mystical, evocative, and sometimes simply strange, the art of fraternal practice is rich in symbols that are oddly familiar yet strikingly uncommon. Through arcane and alluring artifacts, Mystery and Benevolence brings to light the histories of the Freemasons and the Independent Order of the Odd Fellows, two fraternal secret societies with deep roots in American history. The over eighty carvings, textiles, sculptures, and adornments that constitute this exhibition were used from the late eighteenth through mid-twentieth centuries, and retain their clandestine allure to this day.
Fidelity
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Friendly Lodge
Independent Order of Odd Fellows initiatory degree scenic backdrop
Independent Order of Odd Fellows Tracing Board
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Ark of the Covenant
Modern Woodmen of America Lodge Goat
Independent Order of Odd Fellows ‘Bury the Dead’ sign
