{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"House of Folk Art","title":"Episode 41 | Inside the Folk Art Underground: Mike Smith on Folk Art Legends and Lost Stories","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":4198,"description":"Matt and Mike Smith sit down inside the Griffith Fine Art Museum at Red Oak Brewery to talk about the wild early days of Southern folk art and the collectors who helped define it. What begins as a casual visit quickly turns into a deep dive into Mike’s decades-long journey from salesman to documentarian, capturing the rise of self-taught art across the Southeast.\nMike shares how he met artists like Benny Carter, James Harold Jennings, and Howard Finster, and what it was like to ride with Carter through the backroads of North Carolina with a revolver on the dash and a cooler full of copperheads in the back. He recalls photographing artists in their homes, quitting his day job after a single conversation with Finster, and how those early trips shaped the entire field of outsider art.\nMatt and Mike talk about the collectors who kept the movement alive and the growing problem of fake pieces appearing in auctions. They compare real works to counterfeits, share tips on spotting authenticity, and reflect on how folk art has changed as the next generation starts to collect.\nSully joins at the end to ask a few behind-the-scenes questions about Mike’s photography and how he built trust with artists before taking a single shot.\nChapters:\n00:00 | Welcome to the Griffith Fine Art Museum at Red Oak\n05:26 | Giving Mike His Flowers\n09:09 | Benny and Mike Take New York\n15:07 | Meeting James Harold Jennings\n20:19 | Fearrington Folk Art Show Preview\n25:49 | The Discovery of Tom Fiddler\n30:20 | Why Folk Artists Create\n35:40 | So Bad It’s Good\n40:41 | The Fake Art Problem\n50:45 | Spotting Benny Carter Fakes\n55:01 | Time for a Red Oak\n59:50 | The Best Time to Buy Art\n1:04:46 | Sully’s Closing Questions\nAs the conversation winds down, Matt and Mike look back on the people who made this community what it is today. The stories of Benny Carter, Mose Tolliver, and Howard Finster remind them that folk art has always been about more than sales or recognition. It’s about the spark that makes...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/V9-9EJUZ9R45flfIBnsuQ4AwapFGe_rYKiVr1IMQwbU/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9zaG93/LzUxNTk0LzE3MTE3/Mzc2MTktYXJ0d29y/ay5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}