Valley Culture: Constructing Identity Along the Great Wagon Road explores the evolution of Pennsylvania German folk art as settlers moved west. From the Perkiomen Valley of southeastern Pennsylvania to the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, locally distinctive forms of material culture emerged. This exhibition will help viewers understand how German settlers transformed artifacts of daily life, including fraktur, painted furniture, boxes, and other artifacts, as they settled along the Great Wagon Road. Drawn from nearly a dozen private collections, the exhibit features exemplary works of American folk art, including the iconic leaping stag cupboard painted by Johannes Spitler of Shenandoah (now Page) County, Va.; exuberantly painted boxes by John Drissel of Bucks County; and fraktur by Jacob and Samuel Gottschall, Durs Rudy, and Andreas Kolb of Montgomery County. Other highlights include painted boxes and a corner cupboard from the Brothers Valley of Somerset County, a newly-discovered chest of drawers from the Mahantongo Valley, plus painted furniture and fraktur from the Tulpehocken Valley of Berks and Lebanon counties. Organized by Historic Trappe to celebrate the fifth anniversary of its Center for Pennsylvania German Studies, the exhibition is open now through Aug. 17, 2025. It is on view at the Dewees Tavern, 301 W. Street, Trappe, Pa., during regular museum hours on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sundays from noon to 4 p.m. Group tours and weekday hours are also available by appointment. Lead support for Valley Culture is provided by Pook & Pook Inc. Additional support is provided by Jane and Gerald Katcher, Robert and Katharine Booth, Susan and Steve Babinsky, Steve and Jenifer Smith, the American Folk Art Society, Peggy Pace Duckett, and Brett Robbins and Renata Ferrari. For further information, visit www.HistoricTrappe.org. Photos by Michael E. Myers and Gavin Ashworth.