Sunday, May 3, 2009

Odd Wisconsin

(Also the topic of a fascinating exhibit at the Wisconsin Historical Museum.)

Link to May 2 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article, "Book provides peek into Nohl's world".

Excerpt: Untold numbers of people have turned onto Beach Drive for a look at the woodland Easter Island that Nohl's yard had become, teeming with the concrete figures she made. If the light was right, they could also see that she had built her art into the exterior of the house itself.

The ruder visitors came to scoff, mock and sometimes vandalize the "witch's house." But many cruisers were simply curious about this art environment in a placid lakeshore suburb.

More information about this UW Press book.

Excerpt: Outsider artist, sophisticated naïf, and witch are all labels that have described Mary Nohl (1914–2001), creator of a magical and mysterious site on the shore of Lake Michigan near Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Here she constructed huge concrete heads, stone-encrusted creatures, and imposing driftwood figures to fill the yard surrounding a modest cottage where she spent most of her life.

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