It�s called by many names: visionary art, folk art, outsider art, self-taught art.

Whatever it�s called, this splendid art form is typified by the artist�s ability to create without formal training or traditional materials. It is fresh, vivid, primitive, and almost always spiritually inspired.

And folk art is taking the world by storm.

Birmingham and Alabama are increasingly viewed as the epicenter of the folk art movement. So rich in artists is the state that people travel from around the world to view the works of these talented painters, sculptors and creators.

Most Alabama folk artists use their homes as their studios. With artists such as Lonnie Holley and Charlie Lucas, the homes and surrounding grounds become the canvas itself. Known in art circles as �found object artists,� these two men, and many others, scavenge junk yards and trash piles to find discarded pieces of metal, signs, toys, cooking utensils and other �treasures� people have thrown away. The artists� vision allows them to see the potential in what others often view as trash.

The found objects are remarkably transformed into dinosaurs, bike riders, masks and collages. Some are huge pieces, more than ten feet tall. Some are smaller, more intricate wall hangings and masks. These are not the �cute country� type art that many people term folk art; these pieces are left unpainted in their original rusted and weathered form.

Artist Charlie Lucas describes the natural quality of his art: �I want kids to see this thing. I don�t want them to see it in the shiny, in the newness of it. I don�t even attempt to paint so much of my work. My sculptures I kind of leave them natural because the kids want to see the whole society as shiny and pretty and glamorous like we pretend it is, but the truth is, it�s not.�

For other folk artists such as Birmingham�s Chris Clark, color is mandatory. Clark is best known for his �spirit sticks,� long tree limbs he paints with vivid stripes of red, gold, leopard skin and purple. Many of the sticks are embedded with spoons for eyes and peanut butter jar lids for mouths. Clark also paints headboards, sofas, pillows and quilts---anything that will hold still long enough to get decorated.

Artist Mose Toliver, just down the highway in Montgomery, can often be found painting on his front porch or sitting on the edge of his bed, paintbrush in hand. With pieces of plywood and house paint, �Mose T,� as he signs his works, began by painting birds, especially eagles that very much resemble turkeys. Later came his trademark watermelons that are must-haves for visitors, who wander freely through his small frame house, walls covered with paintings of snakes, people on buses and self-portraits. Adventurous visitors will ask to see his �moose ladies,� risqu� paintings of smiling women in shameless positions.

Down in Seale, Alabama, Butch Anthony can be found creating a variety of folk art using pieces of games, empty tin cans and pot lids. A Cootie game from the 1950s becomes a massive work of art on an old heavy door, the critters glued on and pieces of game instructions situated randomly about the piece. A large-mouth bass is mounted on another piece of heavy door, an empty spaghetti sauce can with a jagged open lid forming the mouth and a body constructed of Altoid tins. Anthony does not hesitate to tell visitors that he himself consumed all the food from the empty containers. It�s more special that way.

But then everything about folk art is special in its own way. Dozens of Alabama�s artists prove it through their splendid work.

For now, true folk art belongs to Alabama, but tony galleries in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco are beginning to discover its childlike wonder and sweet appeal. Come soon, while it�s still ours.

For more information on Birmingham�s and Alabama�s folk artists, call the Greater Birmingham Convention and Visitors Bureau at 1-800- SO-SWEET or visit our Web site at www.sweetbirmingham.com.

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Media Contact: Vickie Ashford +1 205-458-8000 vashford@birminghamal.org