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All the United States Wisconsin Fountain City Prairie Moon

Prairie Moon

A curious sculpture garden and museum in Cochrane, Wisconsin.

Fountain City, Wisconsin

Added By
Benny Boas
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These brightly decorated fences look as though they could be in a Disney movie.   http://www.flickr.com/photos/dwallick/3147...
These brightly decorated fences look as though they could be in a Disney movie.   http://www.flickr.com/photos/dwallick/3147...
Herman Rusch sculpted this self-portrait but the man’s glum expression strikes its viewers as quite curious.   http://www.flickr.com/photos/dwallick/3147...
A dusk shot of the yard with the museum in the background.   http://www.flickr.com/photos/noahjacquemin...
Rusch built a 260-foot arched fence that spans the north perimeter of the site in one year.   http://www.flickr.com/photos/pickles_pics/...
Herman enjoyed making animals and people so that the property did not seem so desolate.   http://www.flickr.com/photos/heideland/614...
This is one of the few sculptures done by artist Halvor Landsverk.   http://www.flickr.com/photos/heideland/614...
Going through a stage of dementia, Herman created some very odd sculptures such as this comical dinosaur.   http://www.flickr.com/photos/noahjacquemin...
These fences do not gate anything in nor do they serve any practical purposes. They are simply there as a part of the land’s bizarre aesthetic.   http://www.flickr.com/photos/heideland/614...
On the tops of many of the sculptures rests a prominent star.   http://www.flickr.com/photos/heideland/614...
  lorie shaull / Atlas Obscura User
  Collector of Experiences / Atlas Obscura User
  Collector of Experiences / Atlas Obscura User
  Collector of Experiences / Atlas Obscura User
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About

After a lifetime of working on the prairie, farmer Herman Rusch decided to invest 25 years of his retirement into transforming an old dance pavilion into a bizarre museum and the land surrounding it into a folk-art inspired sculpture park.

In 1958 Herman built his first sculpture on this barren plot of land and did not stop there. There are now around forty sculptures scattered along the grass, painted with vibrant colors and decorated with found objects, glass, and stone. Along with the sculpted animals and lifelike people that populate the small land, there are decorated fences and bizarre structures topped with stars all along the yard. Artist Halvor Landsverk also did a few creations on the property such as the sculpture of the man fighting a bear with a knife.

Unfortunately, the museum no longer exists and all of its eccentric items and features were auctioned off in 1979. While the museum is no longer around, it will always be remembered for its bizarre exhibits, such as a washing machine powered by a goat on a treadmill and a tree grown around a scythe.

Herman Rusch died in 1985 at the age of 100 and after his death the upkeep and preservation of the Prairie Moon sculpture yard has been taken over by a company dedicated to preserving old Wisconsin art.

 

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Museums And Collections Outsider Art

Know Before You Go

Located in Buffalo County between the communities of Fountain City and Cochrane, Prairie Moon Sculpture Garden & Museum can be reached by taking Highway 35 northwest from Fountain City about 6 miles. Just past the Cochrane-Fountain City School, turn left onto Prairie Moon Road; the site is located 1/2 mile on the left. When traveling on I-94, take the Eau Claire Highway 37 exit south through Mondovi continuing on towards Alma, then Highway 35 south to Cochrane and Fountain City.

Community Contributors

Added By

bboas

Edited By

MarcusLocalhost, lorie shaull, Collector of Experiences

  • MarcusLocalhost
  • lorie shaull
  • Collector of Experiences

Published

January 20, 2012

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  • http://www.mnmuseumofthems.org/Grotto/Prairie1.html
Prairie Moon
52727 Prairie Moon Rd
Fountain City, Wisconsin, 54629
United States
44.197107, -91.798264
Get Directions

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Photo of Fountain City

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Fountain City

Wisconsin

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