The Reverend Howard Finster’s Hat

Description

Howard Finster could often be seen wearing this hat as he led “sinners,” penitents, and art lovers through the wonders of Paradise Garden. Finster once told a visitor he “gussied up” his hat with smiling faces so that he would “always present a happy face to the world.” The trademark hat was among the many compelling objects presented in the High’s 1996 exhibition Howard Finster: Visions from Paradise Garden, which was part of the High’s Paradise Project initiative, an early campaign by the High to preserve the creative legacy of this celebrated Southern self-taught artist.