Yard+Art

~Yard Art ~

Yard art is one of many ways people are able to express their personalities through creative designs and the use of what we might classify as “junk” and transforming it into something artistic and unique. “[It] celebrates beauty, natural and constructed; it commemorates individuals; it recognizes the passage of seasons; and it expresses personal beliefs” (Williams para 1). But there are some yards that go beyond our wildest imaginations and we may wonder as we pass by what drives these people to put so much of their time and effort into decorating their yards with art.

**Background/History of Yard Art **

As far back as history can go people have always been known to decorate their yards whether it be functional purposes for everyday chores or simply for looks. Take a look at the Regency Era in England with the enormous houses and acres upon acres of lawn these people owned. Back then it was probably more for a prestigious look to show wealth and status but the statues, fountains, and flowers that filled these lawns are still yard art. “Many people wish to beautify their surroundings, as well as share their creativity and talents with those passing by” (Williams, para 1). Yard art does not just include the unique and unusual figurines that are in someone’s yard, but rather encompasses anything that a home owner can either make or even buy which they transform to fit their personality through their own yard. It can range from a simple arrangement of flowers around someone’s home, a vegetable garden, or even keeping your grass mowed. Store bought items that are just placed in someone’s yard is not really classified as yard art, but rather the art is in the combining and arranging of things that were bought and handmade. "How an object is constructed involves not only the tools and techniques employed but also the selection and procurement of materials" (Material 541). Sometimes people will use recycled matrials such as a "[...] leftover piece of rain guttering or hot-water heater [that] may be converted into a planter, [...] tin cans or milk jugs turned into baskets, banks, [and] toys" (Brunvand 550). According to Varick Chittenden "[...]people decorate their houses and lawns, [and we can see] how creative people can be and how their tastes are shaped not only by tradition, but also by popular culture and their neighbors’ tastes" (para 6).

Seasons and holidays also play a key role in celebrating the passage of time and the drastic changes (at least in Wisconsin) from spring to winter with various decorations such as a scarecrows, carved pumpkins, gourds used as birdhouses, Santa Claus, nativity scenes, or figures of the Easter bunny. Religion and religious beliefs are a way for many people to express themselves. This display can be in the form of decorations for holidays as mentioned earlier which tends to be more prominent. A more religious art seen in the Catholic religion would be a “bathtub Madonna” which consists of a half-sunk bathtub sitting upright in the ground with a statue of the Virgin Mary inside. Humor can be another factor people incorporate into their yard art and can be funny or “playflu” to all those who pass by. Examples of this may include a young man “watering” the yard or a woman unknowingly showing her underwear as she leans over. Yard art itself in the field of Folklore is actually a very large and broad category. Most people tend to think that for something to be categorized as yard art it needs to something unique and out of the everyday. In actuality, yard art can consist of something as small as a flower arrangement in an old milk can to a huge statue made by hand. The real art itself is in what the art means not only to the owner, but also to anyone who is passing by.


 * Methodology **

The parameters of our study focused around Sheboygan and the surrounding areas inside Sheboygan County. To start our field research, we decided to wander around the city and country roads looking for any unique or otherwise unusal displays of yard art. Once we decided which houses fit our "three pockets," we tried to get into contact with all the owners to ask permission to take pictures and acquire background information to the owner's yard art. At first we focused on the actual materials used in the yard art, but discovered that each of our three houses were in different areas or neighborhoods of Sheboygan County. These neighborhoods consisted of the suburb, business district, and rural areas. The pieces of art we chose to discuss were chosen for their uniqueness, structure, materials used, creativity, and sense of purpose the art had given it’s artist. Our field research was conducted from May 4 2009 to May 9 2009.


 * Field Research **

__//Suburb//:__

On Eighteenth Street and Camelot we found a yard full of sculptures that had the appearance of a mosiac, only in statue form. Each piece of glass was strategically placed around each creation to give a vivid representation of each statue. The area where the house was located is what you would call residential area with a park down the street. Most of the houses looked very similar with a ranch style structure and yards of about the same size. The figures included a man, a sun bathing mermaid and alligator near a pond with a fish, giraffe, lion, zebra, and a kangaroo. Unfortunately we were unable to contact the owner to ask about this unique yard art. Each collection of mosaic statues were placed in accordance with what you would perceive as their natural habitat. The actual yard itself was not very big, but the statues did take up a lot of space because of their size and the number the owner has. The lion, zebra, kangaroo, and giraffe were all placed together around a tree in the corner of the owner’s lot. The mermaid, alligator, and pond were located in the center or front of the house with the man statue placed across the driveway under a tree. All of the statues were used simply for looks or an aesthetic quality.







__//Business District//:__

Our next house was located on eight street with art designed on a much smaller scale due to the smaller lot sizes. The houses in this area were designed as two-story salt boxes with a surrounding area that consisted of scattering businesses between blocks of houses. Appearances from the front of this house were very deceiving compared to what the owner had done to his backyard. The front of the yard contained a human size cut-out of a man smoking a pipe leaning against a tree, with a dog beside him scratching up the tree to a cat in the tree above him. This was made out of plywood and painted in black. There was also a wishing well and mini dog house on the other side of the yard made out of scrape wood and was also painted. In the backyard the owner made a pond with a bubbling brook and a waterfall at the opposite end made completely out of stone with a wooden bridge crossing over the brook. As of now the pond is empty but it will soon be home to his coi and goldfish. All the art was made by the owner from materials he had acquired over the years or bought at various stores. The front yard appeals more to the aesthetic eye while the backyard is purely functional for his fish. Reasoning for making the yard art is to keep the retired owner “busy so he would not waste away” (Anoymous).







 __//Rural//:__

<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"> The last house we located was on Highway 32 just out of Ada. It was a ranch style house with a very large front and backyard. The surrounding area consisted mostly of farm land and old farm houses with many wooded areas. The actual art itself is made from materials the owner had recycled from his construction jobs over the years which included treated lumber, copper metal, and old scrapes of wood/metal, and saw blades. The owner made all of this art from scratch by looking at pictures or ideas he obtained from vacations he and his wife have taken over the years. He got the idea for the Heron because the birds used to flock to the swamp that was behind their house years ago. He starts all his projects with welded steel to give the figures strength and then covers them in copper metal he had from all the old houses he did remodeling for. He enjoys the fact that over the years copper will change color and eventually turn to the natural color a Heron bird is. Once his stock pile of copper began to diminish he decided to use aluminum seeing as it was less expensive then copper metal. The front of his yard contains a palm tree with a flamingo bird beside it which is closest to the road all made of welded steel and copper. Behind this and more to the center of his yard he has a lone heron by itself surrounded by flowers and other ornaments. Farther to the right and behind the heron statue is a bald eagle made of aluminum with a nest in front made from a basketball rim with twigs laced throughout to give it the look of a nest. In his backyard he has a pond which he dredged ten feet deep with numerous other figures of birds made of copper and a small tiki hut which is made from old scrape lumber. He got this idea from one of his many vacations where he saw a tiki hut and when he got home he decided to make one and place it near his pond. Lastly, he took some old saw blades of varying sizes and painted them to give a flower effect with a cement base which he made from a wooden form so the flowers would not tip over. The main reason for all of his creations was that he had all of this scrape material sitting around and during the slow winter months it gives him something to do. Normally these projects last about one month and the yard art is purely aesthetic for decoration. He told his wife that “he always wanted to live in a park” and this was one way he could do that. (Froh).










 * <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Analysis/Conclusion **

Yard art contributes to the community by allowing owners to creatively express themselves through the lawn ornaments, decorations, or statues they create or buy to place strategically throughout their yard. The art can be aesthetically pleasing not only to the owners, but also to other people who come to visit the area. This can cause outside visitors to want to come back and visit certain areas which brings in revenue to area businesses and also gives the visitors a chance to meet the people of the community. Within communities themselves there are groups of people that get together for gardening and yard art gatherings creating a feeling of belonging in the community. These groups help neighbors get together to share ideas or tips on how create new yard art or even "compete" with one another to see who can make the most unique or unusual yard art. The home owner with the animals made from copper had a person from Minnesota stop in to take pictures of the bald eagle because he loved those birds so much and wanted to know how he had created the eagle. Creating his own yard art not only gave this home owner a chance to create a beautiful representation of our country's symbol, but also the opportunity to share his interest with a stranger who happened to be passing by and see this creation. Owners can also feel a sense of pride and accomplishment through the work they create and put on display in their yard. Also, knowing that they've created and designed this art gives the artist a sense of individualism. Any of these three homeowners had to take a lot of time and effort to not only make these objects but have the ability to visualize what they wanted to make and then take materials they had recycled or bought to make their art. Their time and commitment is shown through this work and they are in a way sharing the hardwork, creative thinking and artistic abilities with anyone who passes by.

Works Cited:

<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Anoymous. Interview. 5 May 2009.

Brunvand, Jan Harold. The Study of American Folklore. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1998.

Chittenden, Varick A. "When the Flamingos return to Canton." Journal of New York Folklore 34 (Spring 2008). Voices. 11 May 2009 <http://www.nyfolklore.org/pubs/voic34-1-2/upstate.html>.

Froh, Mark. Interview. 9 May 2009.

"Material Culture." Folklore: An Encyclopedia of Beliefs, Customs, Tales, Music, and Art. 1997.

Williams, Dr. Michael Ann. "Yard and Roadside art by Dr. Michael Ann Williams, Western Kentucky University." Kentucky Folkweb. 9 May 2009 <http://wku.edu/kentuckyfolkweb/KYFolklife_Williams_Yard.html>.