Florence Dibell Bartlett
Encyclopedia
Florence Dibell Bartlett (1881–1953) was a Chicago
heiress
and folk art
collector, who is best known for founding the Museum of International Folk Art
(MOIFA) in Santa Fe, New Mexico
, USA, the world's first international folk art
museum. The museum was founded to express her belief that folk art is a bond between the people of the world.
The museum opened to the public in 1953 and has gained national and international recognition as the home to the world’s largest collection of folk art. Its collection of more than 135,000 artifacts is divided into four exhibition wings: Bartlett, Girard, Hispanic Heritage, and Neutrogena.
Bartlett was the daughter of Adophus Bartlett, a wealthy partner in a large wholesale
hardware
business in Chicago that became part of True Value Hardware
. Florence Bartlett's sister, Maie Bartlett Heard, was co-founder of the Heard Museum
in Phoenix
.
Florence Bartlett had a winter home, El Mirador, in Alcalde, New Mexico
, near Los Luceros, the home of Mary Cabot Wheelwright, founder of the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian
, also in Santa Fe.
Bartlett gave her Alcalde house and property to the State of New Mexico, as part of her gift that founded MOIFA.
The Bartlett Wing, named in honor of the museum's founder, has two galleries with rotating exhibits from the museum's collection and gathered in field studies of specific cultures or art forms. Focuses in the Bartlett wing have ranged from Turkish, Tibetan
and Swedish traditions, to New Deal
-era New Mexican art.
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
heiress
Beneficiary
A beneficiary in the broadest sense is a natural person or other legal entity who receives money or other benefits from a benefactor. For example: The beneficiary of a life insurance policy, is the person who receives the payment of the amount of insurance after the death of the insured...
and folk art
Folk art
Folk art encompasses art produced from an indigenous culture or by peasants or other laboring tradespeople. In contrast to fine art, folk art is primarily utilitarian and decorative rather than purely aesthetic....
collector, who is best known for founding the Museum of International Folk Art
Museum of International Folk Art
The Museum of International Folk Art is a state-run institution in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA. It is one of many cultural institutions operated by the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs...
(MOIFA) in Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is the fourth-largest city in the state and is the seat of . Santa Fe had a population of 67,947 in the 2010 census...
, USA, the world's first international folk art
Folk art
Folk art encompasses art produced from an indigenous culture or by peasants or other laboring tradespeople. In contrast to fine art, folk art is primarily utilitarian and decorative rather than purely aesthetic....
museum. The museum was founded to express her belief that folk art is a bond between the people of the world.
The museum opened to the public in 1953 and has gained national and international recognition as the home to the world’s largest collection of folk art. Its collection of more than 135,000 artifacts is divided into four exhibition wings: Bartlett, Girard, Hispanic Heritage, and Neutrogena.
Bartlett was the daughter of Adophus Bartlett, a wealthy partner in a large wholesale
Wholesale
Wholesaling, jobbing, or distributing is defined as the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers, to industrial, commercial, institutional, or other professional business users, or to other wholesalers and related subordinated services...
hardware
Hardware
Hardware is a general term for equipment such as keys, locks, hinges, latches, handles, wire, chains, plumbing supplies, tools, utensils, cutlery and machine parts. Household hardware is typically sold in hardware stores....
business in Chicago that became part of True Value Hardware
True Value
True Value Company is a retailer-owned hardware cooperative with over 5,000 independent retail locations worldwide. Members of the True Value cooperative own their individual stores and operate independently of True Value Company....
. Florence Bartlett's sister, Maie Bartlett Heard, was co-founder of the Heard Museum
Heard Museum
The Heard Museum of Native Cultures and Art is a museum located in Phoenix, Arizona, USA. There is also the Heard Museum North Scottsdale branch in Scottsdale and the Heard Museum West branch in Surprise....
in Phoenix
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
.
Florence Bartlett had a winter home, El Mirador, in Alcalde, New Mexico
Alcalde, New Mexico
Alcalde is a census-designated place in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 377 at the 2000 census. "Alcalde" literally means "Mayor" in Spanish.-Geography:...
, near Los Luceros, the home of Mary Cabot Wheelwright, founder of the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian
Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian
The Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian is a museum devoted to Native American arts. It is located in Santa Fe, New Mexico and was founded in 1937 by Mary Cabot Wheelwright, who came from Boston, and Hastiin Klah, a Navajo singer and medicine man....
, also in Santa Fe.
Bartlett gave her Alcalde house and property to the State of New Mexico, as part of her gift that founded MOIFA.
The Bartlett Wing, named in honor of the museum's founder, has two galleries with rotating exhibits from the museum's collection and gathered in field studies of specific cultures or art forms. Focuses in the Bartlett wing have ranged from Turkish, Tibetan
Tibetan culture
Tibetan culture developed under the influence of a number of factors. Contact with neighboring countries and cultures- including Nepal, India and China - have influenced the development of Tibetan culture, but the Himalayan region's remoteness and inaccessibility have preserved distinctive local...
and Swedish traditions, to New Deal
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
-era New Mexican art.