Quote:
T.C. Steele bought a chunk of land in Brown County to retreat and concentrate on his art. Born in Indiana, he was a natural talent, but raised money from Indiana sponsers to further his studies in Europe. There he studied portraiture in the school of Rembrant. But before returning to America he spent time with a new group of painters, the Impressionists. When he did return he had to pay back his debts by painting portraits of all his sponsors. He did earn a good living this way also, but yearned to return to Impressionism. He and his younger second wife Selma moved to this abandoned farm and the house they called House of the Singing Winds.
The house sits on atop a ridge, at the time it had unobstructed vistas of the rolling hills. Well the reason the farm was abandoned was because the pioneers clear cut the timber to farm. Erosion caused massive farm failures in the area. When the Steeles moved in Selma started landscaping, In fact Steele's most famous painting is called "Selma in the Garden". Now the area is densely wooded....by nature.
On the property we visited the old studio which is now the park office, the studio which is a large barn shaped building, and the house. Because the artist was the first to arrive in Brown County, he became an attraction to the locals. The Steeles had to set aside Sundays for open houses, where neighbors from all over the county would drop in unannounced to observe this new curiosity. In the studio we saw a collection of his works ranging from the amazing portrait he painted at age 12, to his Rembrantesque portraites and on to the landscapes he loved to paint. He was the first artist to arrive, but he was followed by many more. We saw a brochure for studio tours all around the county.
Open Tuestdays to Saturday: 9 am- 5 pm and Sundays: 1pm -5pm. The addmission was only $8-10. The guide was well versed in history and art history. There are also hiking trails and I saw an artist is residence cabin, so I assume there is a program for those interested.
Word of caution, when you leave the property retrace the route you entered on. My husband decided to turn right instead and we just kept getting deeper and deeper into an area the GPS refused to acknowledge existed. I didn't hear banjos playing but I got pretty nervous.
From journals
Taking a Break in Brown County