We have been open to the public for tours of both the historic 1890 barn and the new art studio. The Barn, was a 6 year project from 2003 to 2009, and had the benefit of a public Barn Raising event for 10 days in the summer of 2007. At that time the cedar beams were placed, walls framed, second story floorboards nailed down, and most of the roof framing was put in place. The mortise, tendon, and peg barn was dismantled during 3 week summer sessions from the Ron De Jong farm 12 miles away and is a two story structure 36ft wide by 48 ft. deep. The bottom floor quickly filled with pens for the animals(horses and sheep), a tack/equipment room, the Farmall tractors and pick up trucks. We keep the upstairs open and have student gatherings and occasional dinners there. While we’ll have art and ceramic work on display in the barn, it is not a studio space as it gets too hot in the summers and too cold in winter except to keep equipment and animals with young ones out of extreme weather. It gives me pause to realize the likes of artists Jackson Pollack and Clyfford Still painted their large canvasses in barns without insulation and lights in the 40’s and 50’s.
The original studio was a converted machine shed and was lost in the fire of 2019. (see post on the Fire) The new studio is really a dream studio with LED lighting throughout, heat and AC, and museum quality display areas, a gas kiln in an attached steel box. I have a printing press for etchings and lithographs, a stone grinding rack, a painting station and drawing areas in an upstairs loft, a standing production throwing wheel and lots of storage drawers, racks, tables and open shelving to archive prints, drawings, paper stock, framed work, clay, and glaze chemicals. The space is dehumidified in warmer weather to keep the paper stock free of moisture and dry out clay projects in progress. Keeping things organized and ahead of scheduled production dates, are my greatest ongoing activities. Families and people that are curious as to how an art studio functions are welcome to come and check things out. The barn will be open and Art on display and for sale; will include kiln openings with new ceramic work fired in the two kilns on-site.
