Opposite left:
Watch Out fo r Lambs
with Lions Paws,
ca.
1976, enamel, wood,
11 x 13 x 3 in.
Opposite right:
Leroy Archuleta
Rooster,
1994, carved
wood, paint,
26
x 9
x 24 in.
Opposite bottom left:
African American Quilt,
ca. 1930, cotton,
78 x 59 in.
Opposite bottom right:
In 2007 the gallery won
an architecture award.
Left:
Boneshaker Bicycle,
ca.
1987, wood, 45 x 74
x 17 in.
Bottom:
Shiner/Boxer,
2008,
wood, rulers, tape mea-
sures, fabric, boxing
gloves, 47 x 14 x 13 in.
metal-roofed, two-story building—which
subsequently won the 2007 Santa Barbara
Best New Commercial Project Award-
reflecting the tone of the work featured in-
side. The gallery found instant appeal among
the locals. A wide, welcoming brick en-
trance invites porch sitting, and summer
parties are a popular draw in the tight-knit
seaside community.
Just Foik has quickly established itself
as a go-to source for collectors and dealers
alike. Baerwald and Carsey scour auctions
and other sources for items to add to their
shop, as well as their ever-changing per-
sonal collections. These many treasures
range from the lighthearted, such as papier-
mache watermelon slices, game boards and
tramp art, to the more high-end, including
drawings by Bill Traylor (for whom they
mounted a major show from Oct. 9 through
Dec. 10 and produced a catalog entitled
Unfiltered),
wood carvings by Leroy Archu-
leta and textile paintings by Chris Roberts
Antieau. Their lifelong appreciation for
folk art is now fueled by the ability to keep
things circulating and adopted by new folk
and outsider art aficionados. However,
it is never easy for Baerwald and Carsey
to part with the objects they have fallen
in love with—both confess to occasionally
asking for “visiting rights” when some-
thing is sold.
Baerwald and her husband, Paul, divide
their time between their folk-art-filled Los
Angeles home and a cozy cottage adjacent
to the gallery. In a heartbreaking turn of
events, Carsey, who also had homes in both
areas, lost her nearby Montecito house and
the many objects she had spent years collect-
ing in the Tea Fire in 2008—a disaster that
consumed over 200 homes. Looking ahead,
she is designing and building a new, green
house, built of stone, in the original location.
Just Folk is also a source of solace as it allows
her to remain surrounded by the things she
loves on a daily basis.
While Carsey and Baerwald may be the
brains behind the gallery, it’s the energy
of the artists, both known and anonymous,
that steals the show. But the women are
used to that: it’s the producer’s role and
they’re very happy to fill it in a new way.
“We get to do what we want now,” says
Baerwald, referring to her hectic years
climbing the Hollywood executive ladder.
Today the only reason she and Carsey are
climbing ladders is to access unique items
among the upper reaches of the two-story
high shelving.
Rased in Santa Rarbara, Leslie Andrea West-
brook has written for
Antiques West, San
Francisco Chronicle
and
Conde Nast Trav-
eler,
among other publications.
♦
justfolk.com
dec/jan 10 american craft 063
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