There are two women who were vitally important to the Ernest Hupeden’s Painted Forest. It is safe to say that without Norma Gibeaut Mortimer and Dolores Nash, we would not have the Ernest Hupeden’s Painted Forest.

One of the remarkable things about Ernest Hüpeden is how clearly the world around him appears in his art. His current events, now our history, are embedded in his artwork. At the Ernest Hüpeden’s Painted Forest, his 1898 curtain painting of the 1896 Battle of Manila, is one such example.

The 1957 letter to the REA Editor remembering conversations from 1904 with Ernest Hupeden is fascinating! These sort of memories give us insight into the man behind the murals. He was intelligent, educated, generous as well as a folk artist. And many of his predictions have come true.

“Artist-built environment” is a fancy term for a really cool place.
These places are building interiors or outside spaces such as backyards, farm fields, or gardens transformed by an artist. In most cases, art environments were created by self-taught artists. The result is not just “some thing”, “a piece of art”, that you look at — it is a place you step into, the art surrounds you – you breathe a little differently, see a little differently, experience a little differently in art environments.

After the cessation of activities in 1928 by the MWA at Camp 6190 Hall, the Hall became the Community Gathering Point protected from vandalism by love.

In the 1800s, fraternal organizations were often viewed with suspicion. Their closed meetings, passwords, and initiation ceremonies led outsiders to imagine something dark and dangerous happening behind lodge doors.

Oral history is fascinating and useful and very fun and doesn’t always match the written history. That doesn’t make oral history incorrect or invalid any more than it makes the written history incorrect or invalid; it makes all history nuanced.

One of the greatest dangers to folk art is vandalism — but neglect is what invites it. After Modern Woodmen activities ended and Camp 6190 was deactivated in 1929, the building now known as Wood Hall passed down the Gibeault family tree.

This early 20th-century postcard asks, “Who Wouldn’t Be a Woodman?” Images like this spoke to the heart, promising security, love, and protection for rural families.

It’s a small detail, but it tells us a great deal about how Ernest Hüpeden worked.

After completing the dramatic Battle of Manila curtain—an advertisement for the Modern Woodmen of America itself—Hüpeden did turn to the more typical lodge commission: local business advertising but he put them on the window shades.

We got it going on!! Our three phase restoration project is underway under the careful direction of David Wells.