The Art of Agriculture

Creative expressions connect rural, urban audiences

By Darcy Dougherty Maulsby | Photos by Joseph L. Murphy

“When tillage begins, other arts follow,” noted the prominent American orator Daniel Webster more than 180 years ago. The intersection of agriculture and art in Iowa has long inspired creativity that draws rural and urban residents together.

Steel Cow Reflects Homegrown Art in Waukon

Finding beauty in agriculture resonates with Valerie Miller, the creative force behind Steel Cow, an art studio in Waukon. Steel Cow is known for its distinctive cow, pig, chicken, sheep, goat and wildlife art prints and paintings.

“I’ve always loved animals of all kinds, and I always wanted to be an artist,” says Miller, the fifth generation of her family to live in the northeast Iowa community.

The daughter of a funeral director and a nurse, Miller didn’t grow up on a farm but maintains close ties to local farms. Two of her uncles own the WW Homestead Dairy in Waukon, which has been dubbed the “cheese curd capital of Iowa.”

A family trip to Switzerland proved to be a turning point in Miller’s life. The summer after she graduated from high school, her family went to Europe to visit a foreign exchange student her father knew. “Bernie took us kids on motorcycle rides through the Swiss Alps,” says Miller, who could hear the bells of the cows as the motorcycle sped by. “I thought the Brown Swiss cows were the most beautiful things I’d ever seen.”

Valerie Miller, owner of Steel Cow in Waukon, paints a farm animal portrait at her studio. Miller photographs animals, and then uses the images as inspiration for her paintings.

After returning to Iowa, Miller viewed her home area through completely different eyes. “I was mesmerized by all the cows in northeast Iowa, which is sometimes referred to as ‘Little Switzerland,’ since we have so many more hills and bluffs than the rest of Iowa.”

When Miller started college that fall, she majored in art and business. “I started painting cows and never stopped,” she adds.

After graduating from college in 2004, Miller married her husband Josh (a fellow artist) and started her own business at 23. From the start, Steel Cow has been located in a former funeral home/furniture store that Miller’s great-great-grandfather built in the 1920s. While the Millers have renovated their three-story building at 15 Allamakee Street, it still includes the original wood floors and tin ceilings, along with Miller’s first-floor gallery/ store and second-floor art studio.

The inspiration for each piece of Miller’s artwork starts in the country. “I meet each animal and photograph it before I paint,” she says. “I love visiting farms and getting acquainted with the farmers.”

Miller names the animals after her friends and family and gives each animal its own biography. “I like to think of the animals having alter egos,” Miller says. “So, I have my sister Greta, who is a Jersey dairy cow; my friend Lindsey, who is a Holstein dairy cow; and our sons Ellison, who is a pheasant, Eddie, who is a fox, and Harry, who is a horse.”

Some of Miller’s artwork features animals on brightly colored backgrounds, while other pieces include earth-toned or white backgrounds. Miller has also created a series with the American flag in the background. “This way, the artwork can fit into many different home and office environments,” she says.

Customers can shop at the store or online for canvas prints featuring an array of animals, Christmas ornaments and more. Many of Miller’s customers appreciate her “made in Iowa” business philosophy. “We make as many of our products as we can, including our shipping boxes,” she notes.

Customers nationwide enjoy a view of rural Iowa, thanks to the livestock that inspire Miller. “I have a deep respect for the farm families who take care of these animals and the land,” she explains.

As creatives know, art is essential to the human spirit. Enduring expressions of beauty connect people, reflect the rural culture’s values and remain essential to life – much like Iowa agriculture itself.

Sac County Barn Quilts Revitalize the Countryside

Angie Blumhagen paints iconic barn quilts in her home studio near Audubon.

Barn quilts are an American folk art phenomenon that have flourished in Iowa for nearly 20 years. They highlight Iowa’s agricultural heritage and the time-honored art of quilting.

“I immediately fell in love with this concept when I heard about it,” says Sue Peyton of rural Sac City. “Barns and barn quilts are such a natural fit.” The Peytons coordinated the construction and painting of Sac County’s first barn quilts in 2005. Sac County boasted 55 barn quilts within two years of the start of the project.

Every barn quilt tells a story, such as the pastel-colored Double Aster barn quilt on the Hogue family’s barn north of Odebolt. This Sears & Roebuck dairy barn built in 1942-43, is a focal point of the Prairie Pedlar, a garden center and popular destination for weddings and other events.

“We’re proud to be part of Sac County’s barn quilt project,” says Jane Hogue, who has operated the Prairie Pedlar, with her husband Jack for more than 35 years. “With our gardens and tourism, it’s a win-win.”

Sac County proves that barn quilts offer an effective way to help save barns, promote rural tourism and boost economic development. The vintage barn at the Rustic River Winery and Vineyard north of Lake View, for example, has been remodeled into a winery and venue where people can host parties and other gatherings.

Angie Blumhagen, who owns and operates The Yard N Garden east of Auburn, sells barn quilts that she paints. Some quilts support fundraisers for groups like the local Pheasants Forever chapter. “I enjoy creating handmade art projects that are complementary to Iowa and life on the farm,” she says. “I love this state and let it show in the work I do.”

Mt. Vernon Barn Showcases American Gothic

Sometimes a barn itself becomes a striking piece of artwork. Travel west of Mt. Vernon, and you will spot a replica of Grant Wood’s famous American Gothic painted on the north side of a barn along U.S. Highway 30. “It definitely stands out from the landscape,” says Mark Benesh, a Mt. Vernon middle school art teacher who painted the barn.

It started around 2007, when the barn’s owner connected with Benesh during Chalk the Walk, an event where more than 200 artists use Mt. Vernon’s Main Street as a canvas to create stunning works of chalk art.

“She asked me if I knew anyone who painted barn murals, but I didn’t,” Benesh says. Undeterred, the barn owner asked him again the next year. He decided he could give it a try. First, the barn had to be faced with cement board. “This material doesn’t expand and contract with the weather like barn wood does, which helps the paint last longer,” Benesh explains.

After the barn owner paid for the rights to reproduce the American Gothic image, Benesh created a grid system to scale, based on a photo he took of the barn.

This famous roadside attraction was painted by Mark Benesh, Mt. Vernon middle school teacher. The barn mural is a replica of Grant Wood’s American Gothic painting.

“It’s the kind of thing where one inch equals one foot on the grid system,” says Benesh, who notes that the barn measures approximately 30 feet by 40 feet. “Then, you just paint square by square.” It took Benesh about three weeks to complete the barn-sized American Gothic. He used artist-quality acrylic paint and varnish to help protect the image from ultraviolet light.

“I haven’t had to touch it up since I painted it in 2008,” he says. He also painted flowers and deer on the east side of the barn, along with buffalo on the west side.

Travelers often stop to photograph the colorful barn. “Rural Iowa’s landscape is so interesting with its patterns and colors,” says Benesh. “Anything can be beautiful if you handle it properly.”

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