Prairie Moon Sculpture Garden and Museum, Wisconsin

A farmer and visionary artist and collector named Herman Rusch established this site in the 1950s. When he retired from farming, he bought the former Prairie Moon Dance Pavilion building here, and turned it into a chock-full museum of artifacts, machines, taxidermy, and curios he made and collected over his lifetime. He enhanced the grounds outside with sculptural planters, fences, monuments, sculptures, and towers, made mostly of stones and masonry. He purchased and added sculptural works from others too. In 1979, at the age of 94, he sold the property and auctioned off most of the contents of the museum. The new owners turned the place into a dog kennel, and many of the remaining outdoor works were damaged or destroyed. In 1992, the Kohler Foundation purchased the site, and began restoring it. Since then many more “visionary” sculptures from other sites in the state have been installed outdoors, and inside the museum, which is now owned by the town of Milton.