Lost Art - Fred Smith Sculptures Page 3a

Who was the Fred Smith who created this visionary environment, the roadside park of over two-hundred-fifty sculptures representing history, mythology, and local lore? A Wisconsin native, Smith was born in 1885. Never having attended school, he worked as a lumberjack in the Wisconsin northwoods. There is even a mythology in this, to be a lumberjack, to fell the majestic pines, to brace the harsh cold winters, to work the oxen teams to bring the great Wisconsin trees from the logging camps. Smith also farmed and ran a spartan tavern to support his wife and five children. He began building his Wisconsin Concrete Park on his land in 1950 when he was sixty-five years old. It was an enterprise that engulfed him for the next fourteen years. For him, this outdoor museum was a gift to the American people.

Smith follows a pattern of many American folk artists who, after a lifetime of hard physical labor, find a commitment to art blossoming in their later years. Certainly there is a tie between a rigorous work ethic, a tenacious and ingenious use of materials at hand, and the transformation in retirement of these valuable skills into imaginatively-made artworks.

<--- Back | Next --->

Sacajawea with Andrew Gorny as scale reference. Originally, it was behind the Clydesdales with the tall pines providing a dark backdrop that accentuated her solemn upraised arms.