Oct. 1, 2004
By Molly Exner
UW-RF News Bureau
The remains of decomposing structures along remote Wisconsin byways are brought
back to life in an altered photo exhibition at the UW-River Falls. "Eulogy
for the Barn" by UW-Eau Claire emeriti Professor Karen Grow Horan is Oct.
19 - Nov. 4 in the Harriet Barry Gallery in the Chalmer Davee Library at UW-River
Falls.
Horan will be available to discuss her work at 3:45 p.m.on Tuesday, Oct. 19.
in the Barry Gallery.
Horan, who recently retired after teaching art education for 26 years at UW-Eau
Claire, will exhibit a series of color photographs of farmsteads in various
stages of decay. The photographs are enhanced with colored pencils, focusing
on texture and pattern with an emphasis on shape--a focus that may have carried
over from the 12 years she spent as a potter.
Throughout her teaching career, Horan made conscious efforts to incorporate
barns within her curriculum at UW-Eau Claire. In a class for future elementary
education teachers, Horan initiated a unit about the historic preservation of
Wisconsin architecture. Horan asked students to bring a personal barn or farm
story to class. These stories were then shared with classmates and included
in a barn journal created by each student. In addition, the students learned
about the unique features of barn architecture and integrated the barn as a
viable topic within other elementary school curricular areas.
"Through my photography and teaching, I aspire to bring attention to the
anonymous architecture of the barns that fill the Wisconsin landscape,"
says Horan. "All of my barns are in the process of decay and ruin. Inherent
within the structures are not only family history but farming history as well."
Horan grew up in Owen, a small west-central Wisconsin farming community in Clark
County. Although she lived in town, Horan spent most of her childhood on the
farms of her grandparents and friends. Horan believes those informative years
made an important imprint on her, both personally and professionally. Horan
says this was the beginning of her life-long passion for Wisconsin barns.
Along with Horan's photographs about the unique contribution of Wisconsin barns
as a historical icon and a subject of importance for the school curriculum,
small selections of student journals and stories will be on display at the exhibit.
Supported by an Instructional Improvement Grant from the Professional Development
Board, Horan will be on the UW-RF campus Oct. 19, 26, 28 and Nov. 4 to work
with elementary education and art education majors who are developing curriculum
on barns as part of rural visual culture. Horan will share her interest and
passion as an artist and involve students in a model lesson they can use in
their own classrooms.
Horan plans to continue looking for personal stories buried in dilapidated barns
near her Bayfield cabin and may help to document remaining structures.
"I think architecture for a topic of study in the school curriculum is
very important, particularly the architecture of the barn because it's a part
of our visual culture," she says. "Barns tell stories that are worth
saving."
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