Mary Atkinson, Robin Staudt, Sandy Thies, Kathy Hankins and Jean Katzenberger of the Aram Public Library with restored art painted by Delavan native Adolph Shulz more than a century ago.Â
Mary Atkinson, Robin Staudt, Sandy Thies, Kathy Hankins and Jean Katzenberger of the Aram Public Library with restored art painted by Delavan native Adolph Shulz more than a century ago.Â
COURTESY ARAM PUBLIC LIBRARY
DELAVAN — The Aram Public Library has added to its art collection a recently restored piece created more than a century ago by a Delavan art student who was part of a long-time local art colony.
Adolph Shulz was born in Delavan in 1869. He grew up hiking in the woods of Wisconsin with his father and making sketches of what he saw.
For a period of about 15 years, from 1895 to 1910, 60 to 80 students came to Delavan each summer to continue their studies under Chicago Art Institute instructor John Vanderpoel.
Schulz was one of the colony’s longest-running students.
After studying in New York, Paris and Munich, he returned to his hometown with his artist wife, Ada Walter Shulz who had also studied in those places. He had also studied art in Chicago.
Their home, according to newspaper accounts, became one of the spots where students painted. The Shulz’s would periodically hold outdoor shows in their front yard to sell students’ paintings.
Aram Public Library has a collection of works representative of this once well-known art colony that flourished in Delavan near the turn of the last century.
This past summer, the Blooming Prairie Questers, of the Delavan area, submitted a painting, “Untitled,†by Shulz, to the Aram Public Library’s collection for repair and restoration.
Shulz’s painting is a landscape featuring three cornstalks captured in the early morning light.
“Reminiscent of Impressionist techniques, the painting is alive with keen notes of oranges and yellows as it captures the harvest season,†Library Director Michelle Carter said in a release.
Delavan Library expansion
The library is, meanwhile, in the midst of an expansion, with the size of its building about to grow from 2,000 to 24,000 square feet.
Carter said efforts are underway to secure temporary space for library collections until the expanded space is ready to move back into.
Planned are a larger children’s area, teen area, Discovery Zone, and larger study and meeting rooms.
She said the tentative plan is to move into a temporary facility in January and for construction to start on the expansion in March or April 2025.
Carter said during the construction, Schulz’s painting will be stored in city of Delavan space.
Art restoration
The Questers are an international organization located in the United States and Canada. Blooming Prairie is a local chapter started in 2008 with 10 members.
Its volunteers and donors work behind the scenes to preserve, restore, repair or replace artifacts and items of historical interest in communities.
Carter said this was a complex restoration as the painting was pretty dirty but they did a great job. She said they applied for grants to help cover related costs.
“The Blooming Prairie Questers are all in agreement that preserving the artwork at Aram Public Library is the perfect project for us and we are looking forward to the restoration of the next painting,†Hankins shared.
The group says it plans on restoring two more paintings.
Carter said it has been heartwarming to be involved and an honor to help people get a glimpse into Delavan’s history.
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