Folklore & Folktales at AND Creative, Annapolis, MD
There's something timeless about a good story.
Long before books, movies, or social media, stories were shared through symbols, songs, craft, and images—passed from one generation to the next. They helped explain the world, preserve traditions, and connect communities.
This group exhibition explores the ways folk art and storytelling continue to shape how we understand ourselves and the world around us. Rooted in cultural traditions from across time and place, the work reflects the power of lore to teach, celebrate, warn, and connect. Some artists draw directly from inherited stories and places, while others reinterpret folk traditions through a contemporary lens.
Featured artists include Martin Beadle, Nikki Brooks, Cat Dolch, Deb Furey, Hailey Hagan, Jim Mackey, Jayla McKay, Felicia Reed, and Anike Robinson.
About Cat's Work:
In early modern Scotland, folklore was not an occult underground or a fringe deviance—it was the quiet baseline of everyday life. Folk wisdom in the harsh environment of that world was simply community care, embedded in the daily labor of mothers, midwives, and neighbors. The tragedy of the Scottish witch trials lies in the violent re-framing of this domestic reality. Driven by religious zealotry and royal decree, the state and church abruptly re-coded ordinary cultural life into satanic conspiracy. Neighbours were forced to view everyday customs through a lens of lethal suspicion. By contrasting traditional folk iconography with the cold instruments of state control, we honor those who were condemned—not as practitioners of the unnatural, but as ordinary people whose everyday culture, autonomy, and humanity were turned against them.
