Jimmy Hedges papers and Rising Fawn Folk Art Gallery records
name: label: Creator
content: Hedges, Jimmy, 1942-2014
label: Names
content: Rising Fawn Folk Art Gallery
label: Names
content: Blizzard, Georgia, 1919-2002
label: Names
content: Finster, Howard, 1916-2001
label: Names
content: Green, Homer, 1910-2002
label: Names
content: Harvey, Bessie, 1929-
label: Names
content: Hoskinson, Danny
label: Names
content: Lancaster, Paul
label: Names
content: Mohammed, A.J.
label: Names
content: Simmons, Charlie
label: Names
content: Sudduth, Jimmy Lee, 1910-2007
label: Names
content: Tolliver, Mose, 1920-
label: Names
content: Young, Purvis, 1943-
topic: label: Occupation
content: Art dealers -- Tennessee
label: Topic
content: Self-taught artists
label: Topic
content: Art -- Collectors and collecting
label: Topic
content: Folk art
label: Topic
content: Outsider art
label: Topic
content: Artists' studios -- Photographs
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Donated 2016 by James R. Hedges IV on behalf of the Hedges Descendants Trust and in 2018 by James R. Hedges IV on behalf of Wildcat Asset Managment, LLC.
creator: label: Creator
content: Hedges, Jimmy, 1942-2014
setName: label: See more items in
content: Jimmy Hedges papers and Rising Fawn Folk Art Gallery records
abstract: label: Summary
content: The papers of art collector and dealer Jimmy Hedges and the records of his Rising Fawn Folk Art Gallery measure 23.5 linear feet and 15.63 GB and date from 1969-2016, with the bulk of the material dating from 1991-2013. The collection documents Hedges's career as a dealer of outsider art and as an advocate for self-taught artists. Records include administrative and sales records, correspondence, artist files, collector and gallery files, exhibition and art fair files, regional files, printed and digital material, photographic material, and unidentified sound and video recordings. The bulk of the collection consists of artist files and color photographs documenting hundreds of artists that Hedges visited at their homes and studios, including Georgia Blizzard, Howard Finster, Homer Green, Bessie Harvey, Danny Hoskinson, Paul Lancaster, A.J. Mohammed, Charlie Simmons, Jimmy Lee Sudduth, Mose Tolliver, and Purvis Young, among many others.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: James R. "Jimmy" Hedges III (1942-2014), was an artist, art collector and dealer of Outsider Art and Folk art in Tennessee and Georgia. Hedges established the Rising Fawn Folk Art Gallery, Lookout Mountain, Georgia. 

Born into a prominent family from Chattanooga, Jimmy Hedges was a lifelong philanthropist as a trustee of his family's Tonya Memorial Foundation.  His true vocation, however, was as an artist, collector, and dealer of outsider art and as an advocate for self-taught artists.  Hedges discovered his love of wood carving as a teenager, when he created song birds, and returned to making art at age forty. Using a chain saw, he carved sculptures of Southerners he had encountered in his travels, including artists. His colleagues in this sector of the fine art craft world were predominantly southern African American self-taught painters, sculptors, potters, and carvers. Befriending them and collecting their work led Hedges to establish Rising Fawn Folk Art Gallery in 1993, building a gallery space in the early 2000s on his 500-acre farm in Lookout Mountain, Georgia.

An unconventional art dealer, Hedges would hand-deliver work to collectors' homes, driving his truck through backroads and stopping along the way to visit with artists and purchase more works to sell. He was an active presence at the Outsider Art Fair and self-taught artist exhibitions throughout the U.S., as well as at Slotin Folk Art auctions and prison auctions. His aim was to improve the economic condition of fellow artists and raise their profiles among curators and critics. Hedges' development of an archive was essential to this goal.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 23.5 Linear Feet
label: Extent
content: 15.63 Gigabytes
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1969-2016, bulk 1991-2013
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.hedgjimm
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Gigabytes
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
label: Type
content: Video recordings
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: This collection is arranged as 9 series.

Series 1: Administrative and Sales Records, 1969-1971, 1991-2015 (Boxes 1-4; 3.9 linear feet, ER01-ER03; 0.134 GB)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1974, 1981, 1990-2013 (Boxes 4-5; 0.2 linear feet)

Series 3: Artist Files, 1985-2014 (Boxes 5-9, 31, 33, OV 32; 4.6 linear feet, ER04-ER15; 5.35 GB)

Series 4: Collector and Gallery Files, 1992-2014 (Boxes 9-10; 1.2 linear feet)

Series 5: Exhibition and Art Fair Records, circa 1992-2013 (Boxes 10-11; 1.3 linear feet, ER16-ER18; 1.52 GB)

Series 6: Regional Files, 1976, 1980s-2012 (Boxes 11-13; 1.7 linear feet)

Series 7: Printed Material, 1980-2013 (Boxes 13-16, OV 32; 2.2 linear feet, ER19; 0.833 GB)

Series 8: Photographic Material, circa 1990-2011 (Boxes 16-30, 34-35; 7.9 linear feet, ER20-ER35; 7.79 GB)

Series 9: Unidentified Sound and Video Recordings, undated (Boxes 30-31; 0.5 linear feet)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The collection was processed to a minimal level in 2017 by Erin Kinhart, with the assistance of intern Rebecca McCormick. The 2018 addition was processed by Ryan Evans in 2018. Born-digital materials were processed in 2019 by Kirsi Ritosalmi-Kisner with funding provided by Smithsonian Collection Care and Preservation Fund.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs
label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Video recordings
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The records of art collector and dealer Jimmy Hedges and his Rising Fawn Folk Art Gallery measure 23.5 linear feet and 15.63 GB and date from 1969-2016, with the bulk of the material dating from 1991-2013. The collection documents Hedges's career as a dealer of outsider art and as an advocate for self-taught artists. Records include administrative and sales records, correspondence, artist files, collector and gallery files, exhibition and art fair files, regional files, printed and digital material, photographic material, and unidentified sound and video recordings. The bulk of the collection consists of artist files and color photographs documenting hundreds of artists that Hedges visited at their homes and studios, including Georgia Blizzard, Howard Finster, Homer Green, Bessie Harvey, Danny Hoskinson, Paul Lancaster, A.J. Mohammed, Charlie Simmons, Jimmy Lee Sudduth, Mose Tolliver, and Purvis Young, among many others.