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Summary
Nohl, Mary L., Art Environment
7328 North Beach Road, Fox Point, Milwaukee County
Architect: Henry Harshaw Hay
Site Designer: Mary L. Nohl
Located on the Lake Michigan shore, the delightfully embellished home and sculpture garden of artist Mary Nohl is a magical art environment. Over sixty sculptures of concrete, glass and stone populate the yard, including a twelve-foot grinning dinosaur. Colorful panels of creatures and figures in profile adorn the home's exterior, while the interior contains thousands of works from a lifetime of tireless experimentation with nearly every conceivable media. One of very few women to have undertaken such an extensive transformation of her personal world, Nohl created an incredibly diverse and vast body of work.
Mary Nohl's family was one of the first residents of this beach front neighborhood, and the original beach cottage portion of the house remains from 1921. In 1940, the Nohl family turned their summer residence into a year-round one and incorporated a two story addition. Mary's father died in 1961 and her mother moved into a nursing home two years later. Mary found herself alone in her home for the first time and not long afterwards began the process of transforming it and the surrounding lot into the total art environment that it was to become.
For Mary, every material had potential and served as a catalyst for her home, a work in progress revised according to her need to continuously explore and to delight her senses. TV dinner trays were saved to eventually become a chandelier of fish over the dining table. She unraveled the wire from old electrical cords and wove them into three-dimensional creatures hanging from the ceiling. She bought boxes of scraps of stained glass and assembled them in mosaic-like patterns on her windows. Concrete sculptures formed a menagerie in her yard.
In 1996, Mary began the process of gifting her entire collection to the Kohler Foundation to ensure its preservation. By the time of her death in 2001 at the age of 87, knowledge of Nohl's extraordinary creation had traveled far beyond Wisconsin, and she had achieved international recognition, both as an artist and visionary.
The Mary Nohl home is a private residence and is not open to the public.
Property Details
| Criteria | Person,Architecture/Engineering |
|---|---|
| Area Of Significance | Art |
| Period of Significance | 1943-2001 |
| Architectural Style | Late 19th And 20th Century Revivals |
| Architect | Hay, Henry Harshaw,Nohl, Mary L. |
| Resource Type | Site |
| Historic Use | Single Dwelling,Work Of Art (Sculpture, Carving, Rock Art),Garden |
Resources Within The Property
| Contributing Buildings | 2 |
|---|---|
| Contributing Sites | 1 |
| Contributing Structures | 0 |
| Contributing Objects | 1 |
| Non-Contributing Buildings | 0 |
| Non-Contributing Sites | 0 |
| Non-Contributing Structures | 0 |
| Non-Contributing Objects | 0 |
Designations
| Historic Status | Listed in the State Register |
|---|---|
| National Historic Landmark Listing Date | Jul 15, 2005 |
| Historic Status | Listed in the National Register |
| National Historic Landmark Listing Date | Oct 3, 2005 |
State & National Registers of Historic Places
The State Register and National Register recognize buildings, sites, districts, structures, and objects that are significant in national, state, or local history. The State Historic Preservation Office in conjunction with the National Park Service maintains the list for Wisconsin and makes the data available to the public for research and education.
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Mary Nohl
Monday, February 25, 2013
Meet a uniquely creative artist and the remarkable home she decorated to display her talents in this insightful biography for young readers.
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