The Wandering Soul of American Folk Art Jon Serl was a man whose life was as layered and textured as the very canvases he created. Born Josef Searls in 1894 in the quiet town of Olean, New York, his journey to becoming a singular voice in American folk art was anything but linear. Before he ever picked up a brush with serious intent, Serl lived a thousand lives under a dozen different names. He was the vaudeville performer known as Slats, a charismatic figure mastering the arts of dance, song, and impersonation; he was Jerry Palmer, navigating the transition from silent films to the era of s…