Nohl Mary - Mary Nohl: a lifetime in art

Mary Nohl

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Mary Nohl

A LIFETIME IN ART

BARBARA MANGER
AND JANINE SMITH

WISCONSIN HISTORICAL SOCIETY PRESS

Published by the Wisconsin Historical Society Press

Publishers since 1855

2013 by State Historical Society of Wisconsin

E-book edition 2013

For permission to reuse material from Mary Nohl: A Lifetime in Art (ISBN 9780-870205774, e-book ISBN 978-0-87020-585-9), please access www.copyright.com or contact the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. (CCC), 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 9787508400. CCC is a not-for-profit organization that provides licenses and registration for a variety of users.

Wisconsin history .org

A list of illustration credits can be found on pages , which constitute a continuation of this copyright page.

Designed by Jill Bremigan

17 16 15 14 13 1 2 3 4 5

The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:

Manger, Barbara, 1943

Mary Nohl : a lifetime in art / Barbara Manger and Janine Smith. 1 [edition].

pages cm (Badger biographies series)

Includes index.

ISBN 978-0-87020-577-4 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Nohl, Mary, 19142001Juvenile literature. 2. ArtistsUnited StatesBiographyJuvenile literature. 3. ArtistsWisconsinBiographyJuvenile literature. I. Title.

N6537.N648M36 2013

709.2dc23

[B]

2012032703

Front cover: Photograph courtesy of Ron Byers

Front cover background: Shapes derived from Marys front gate, circa 1963, and fence, circa 1973, at Mary Nohls Lake Cottage Environment. Courtesy of the John Michael Kohler Arts Center Artist Archives

For our grandchildren
Max and Will
Molly, Kasey, and Lucy

Publication of this book was made possible in part by a gift from the Kohler Foundation.

Contents

The Witchs House

In the Milwaukee . On the west side of the road, the houses have big windows and the lawns and gardens are well kept. If you keep walking, you will come upon a strange and wonderful sight.

One of the statues outside the witchs house

of people, fish, and other creatures. If you look again you will see that this house is different from all the other houses on the road.

If the gate is unlocked, you can enter and tiptoe even closer. You will see small black stones that spell out the word BOO on the doorstep. If you look up, you will see wooden cutouts of people hanging from the tree branches and swaying in the breeze. You will hear the swish of waves washing up on the beach.

This is what youll see if you get to the front porch. Does it scare you?

If you are curious, you might ask a neighbor walking past, Who lives here? The neighbor might answer, Nobody now, but a woman who was called a witch once lived here. She made all of this. She worked every day for many years building one thing, then another. Sometimes she was in the yard or up on a ladder, sometimes she was on the roof, but she was always working.

You might ask, Who was this person? You might wonder, How did she make all of this? and Why?

The answer to these questions starts with a name: Mary Nohl. Mary was an artist who lived and worked in the house on the lakeshore for many years. Marys sculptures filled the yard. Art made of every material imaginable filled the house.

Mary lived her entire life doing the thing she loved most: making art.

Childhood Adventures

This is the true story of Mary Louise Nohl, who was not a witch at all. She was a real child like most other children. She was born in 1914 in the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Her father, Eugene Maximilian (yoo jeen mak suh mil yuhn), called Max, who was 4 years older.

The Nohl family in 1914. Baby Mary is happy on her mothers lap. Max sits on Leos lap.

. They believed that children should be seen and not heard. This was often difficult for Max and Mary. Max was serious, but Mary was happy and carefree. She was also playful and full of energy, but always tried to behave nicely around adults.

Mary said, My parents were never afraid to take me anywhere. When asked how I was, I would grin and say fine.... I never said the wrong thing because I never said anything more than just fine.

The Nohl family lived in this house on Stowell Avenue in Milwaukee when Mary was young. Mary and her friends liked to play under the porch.

The Nohl family lived in a big house on the east side of Milwaukee. Mary and her neighborhood friendsWally, Georgia, Helen, Sonny, Charlotte, and Janecreated their own fun. Television and video games had not been invented. The neighborhood was their playground and Mary, the leader, was full of creative ideas for games and activities.

Mary and her gang built puppet theaters and put on shows for the younger children. They made dolls and . They charged other children a penny to hop on board and clunk along the sidewalk.

Marys mother saved everything, even this pencil drawing Mary made when she was 5.