Transformations

The John Michael Kohler Art Center’s Art Preserve has recently opened in Sheboygan. It was built to store massive artist-built environments that could not remain on their original sites. The museum defines these environments as, “spaces and places that have been significantly transformed by an artist to embody and express aspects of their history, place and culture, their ideas and imagination.”

Both the stunning new building and the collections housed within are incredible. We consider ourselves lucky to have this unique and free resource so close by.

However, I feel compelled to mention another pleasurable aspect of living in the Manitowoc-Sheboygan area. Ironically, all the artist created environments are not contained within the walls of the internationally famous Art Preserve.

While taking a new route to our grocery store last week, we came across a humble home in Manitowoc worthy of being called an “artist-built environment”. We slowed down to get a better look and the owner was in her backyard. I hopped out of the car, told her how much I liked her creation and asked permission to take photos. She was totally gracious.

Her wildly imaginative assemblage is not the only home transformation in our area. I know of several other home sites where the owners’ imaginations have run wild.

These wonderful roadside attractions are never in the wealthiest parts of town. I seriously doubt if these places will ever be acquired by the Art Preserve or end up in glossy coffee table books. In fact, these homes would be zoned out of the neighborhoods of many donors to the Art Preserve. But, in my opinion, they qualify as delight-producing works of imagination.

All our homes are expressions of ourselves. My husband and I have an array of large sculptures in our yard, among them, a large bluebird holding up barbells, a running dinosaur, a speeding rabbit and a turquoise blue beastie. Before we built our house here, we checked to see if our sculpture collection could be legal residents. Happily, they were not zoned out.

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