By BARBARA BARBIERI
Each of Indiana’s 92 counties have be recognized by an ornament at the Indiana State Museum’s Christmas tree. The ornament for Wells county was created by Wells county artist Joel Fremion.
The four sided box features four fabric collages of Wells county life. The rural nature of the county is reflected in the ornament as side one featured a rural farm scene with a red barn and windmill.
The second side features Heyerly’s Market in Bluffton in the early morning hours with people flocking to the bakery. The third side features the Wells County Courthouse and the fourth side showcases the Firetower at Ouabache State Park.
The project of decorating the tree with ornaments done by artists from each county was the idea of Mark Ruschman, the Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites’ senior curator. In previous years the decorations have been donated by individual artists and historical societies.
In near by counties the ornaments and their themes were as follows:
Adams County: artists woodcarvers Bennett and Gerald Grote, made of wood and paper and highlighting the Limberlost at Geneva and the courthouse.
Allen County: artist Sayaka Ganz, a mastodon of scrap metal objects.
DeKalb County: husband and wife artists Paul Siefert and Lisa Vetter, using found objects to highlight sites in the county.
Kosciusko County; artist Bonnie Gore, made of fused glass representing the county’s love of water with a sailboat.
LaGrange County: artist Peggy Tassler, features an Amish quilts and a horse and buggy.
Noble County: artist Carly Caron, a miniature windmill in honor of the Mid-America Windmill Museum located in that county.
Wabash County: artist Katy Gray, stained glass ornament highlighting light strung to the courthouse, as Wabash was the first electrically lighted city in the world.
The Indiana State Museum is located at 650 West Washington St. in downtown Indianapolis. For more information go to indianamuseum.org
