In this heat, it is nice to be able to travel to a different time and place in the comfort of air conditioning.  Historic Arkansas Museum’s current exhibit “SUGGIN TERRITORY: THE MARVELOUS WORLD OF FOLKLORIST JOSEPHINE GRAHAM” offers a chance to visit a bygone era in Arkansas.

Josephine Graham (1915-1999) a.k.a. “Josus,” was a celebrated artist and folklorist of Arkansas’s White River culture. Her “Suggin” folk paintings depict the Depression-era folk history of the White River region.

Though professionally trained as a painter at Columbia University, Graham’s paintings are intentionally primitive in style, inspired by the stories and lives of “Suggins,” a playful term she used in reference to the people living along the White River.

Through more than twenty exhibitions, over 100 paintings, and a self-published cookbook, she shared the wonder and charm of her native region with the world. Graham was a founding member of the Mid-Southern Watercolorists and founder of the Suggin Folklife Society.

The exhibition continues through November 29, 2015.