After several major museums have renovated and expanded their American art galleries, the trend continues to separate folk and outsider art from academic art. Usually, folk art is relegated to a smaller, lesser space than more realistic, academic artworks.

The New York Times'  Roberta Smith calls for a re-evaluation of this homogenous hanging of paintings where galleries are devoted to one school of art, or stylistic period, and folk art is given short shrift by curators.

"It would be illuminating to see how the starchy, starkly lighted landscapes of the nominally trained folk painter Thomas Chambers might rattle the gentle glow and soft leafy vistas of the Hudson River School," writes Smith.

Smith notes that the narrative of art can be boradened from the displays of 19th century art through to the post-war period.

She wwrites, "Obviously narratives like the [Museum of Modern Art's] omit many worthy insider artists, but outsider art might be the shock to the system that would finally break this linear historical account."