Exterior

Modern Woodmen of America was one of many secret, fraternal organizations that were very much in vogue in the last part of the 19th century – the Masons, Odd Fellows, and many others. What set the Modern Woodmen of America apart from other fraternal societies was that after completing the secret rituals and becoming a member, the woodmen were eligible to purchase a death benefit – the first life insurance available to small town and rural residents. Started in 1883, with Charter #1 in Lyons, Iowa the Modern Woodmen of America quickly grew with chapters in many towns and villages throughout the upper Midwest.

In the late 19th century, Valton was a thriving and growing village. This building was built by Charles Gibeault in 1898-99 as the lodge for the local chapter of the Modern Woodmen of America and became known as Wood Hall. M.W.A. charters were numbered consecutively, by date issued; lodges were called “camps” and the Valton charter, dated March 2, 1899, was for Valton Camp #6190. The building’s interior was fully painted by German itinerant folk painter Ernest Hüpeden between 1898 and 1901.

In the early 20th century, the secret society elements of the Modern Woodmen of America began to disappear. Life insurance became much more available, expanding to include homes and automobiles etc. By the 1920s, the secret rituals and meetings had dissipated and many of the camps began to be abandoned. The last known meeting within this hall was in 1928.

The building remained unlocked, open and in general use as a community center for many years while it still owned by the Gibeault family. Although it was allowed to deteriorate, it was the site for weddings, school graduations, concerts & plays, baby showers, roller skating, Grange meetings, and voting. As the largest open space in the village, it served the community as the basic public space for almost all events.

Time eventually took its toll. The cedar shake roof began to leak and eventually the ceiling fell in. When the building was about to be sold as a machine or storage shed, Dolores Nash, a local school teacher, convinced her husband Ron that they should buy the building ($300) to save Hüpeden’s murals. They did this to the best of their ability while Dolores renamed the building The Painted Forest and hosted summer musicales, again using the building as a community space.

It was Dolores Nash who first heard about the Kohler Foundation’s restoration of the Fred Smith Concrete Park in Phillips, WI. She made contact with the foundation who decided that it was a unique art environment and a worthwhile restoration project. The Nashes sold the building to the Kohler Foundation Incorporated who undertook the major restoration of the building in 1981-82. It was gifted to Sauk County and opened in 1982 under the stewardship of the Upper Baraboo River Historical Society. When they disbanded in 2001, Sauk County relinquished ownership back to the Kohler Foundation.

In 2004, The Painted Forest and the Studio/Study Center were gifted to Edgewood College after college had sent several student interns to the Kohler foundation to learn restoration processes for artist-built environments. Edgewood College continues to be excited to share this very special Wisconsin treasure with the public.