Wisconsin farmer's sprained ankle led to over 40 sculptures in 15 years
After a sprained ankle sidelined his farming duties, Nick Engelbert began creating elaborate concrete sculptures on his Wisconsin property. Over 15 years, he transformed his farm into a folk art site featuring over 40 works inspired by history, folklore, and his own imagination.
Why it matters
This story highlights the intersection of personal adversity and creative expression, documenting the origins of a unique piece of American folk art history.
A sprained ankle changed the course of Nick Engelbert’s life on his small farm in Hollandale, Wisconsin. An Austrian immigrant who made his living as a dairy farmer, Engelbert began working with concrete and found objects, eventually turning his farmhouse and yard into an unusual collection of handmade art. Broken china, pieces of glass, buttons, beads and seashells became part of the surfaces he decorated, while the grounds gradually filled with figures drawn from American politics, folklore, history and his own imagination. What began with a single sculpture grew over the next 15 years into a display of more than 40 works, giving the property its own distinctive character.How a sprained ankle inspired Nick Engelbert’s folk artNick Engelbert was born in Austria in 1881 and later settled in Wisconsin, where he worked as a dairy farmer.
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