The Road Less Traveled

 

Nationality

American

Artist Dates

1930-2010

Preview

image preview

Date of Work

ca. 1976

Medium

35mm slide, digitized 2020

Collection/Provenance

James Smith Pierce Collection: Folk and Outsider Image Collection

Status

Stored

Location

UND Art Collections Repository

Artist Bio

Born in Brooklyn, New York, James Smith Pierce received his PhD in art history from Harvard University. During his career as a professor, Pierce also became an accomplished artist, whose artworks were included in important exhibitions (including a show on land art at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, DC) and books on contemporary earthworks and site-specific sculpture. Pierce was also a photographer, exhibition curator, and art collector.

Additional Information

William Notzke (1902-1991), ran Jubilee Dairy out of Peoria County in Illinois. He was selling ice cream when he had the vision of creating an on-site rock garden. He created his sculptures out of quartz, which he hauled out of Colorado and Arkansas himself. It took him two decades to build a five-level rock garden, sculpted out of rose and crystal quartz. At the top of this garden, overlooking it all, stands a memorial arch built for his wife Ethel, who died in 1963. Ethel did not approve of William’s handiwork, but he devoted the sculpture to her anyway.

When Notzke died at the age of 89, his garden was sold by his daughter. Cheryl and John Becker bought the site and have been the caretakers ever since. This can be seen on Route 150, but cannot be accessed directly through the driveway in order to preserve the property as best they can.

This image shows the view of the multi-layered garden with the centerpiece being the arch statue devoted to his wife. This statue contained electronics that allow lights to shine through diamond and heart shaped openings.

Image is provided for educational purposes only. © University of North Dakota. All rights reserved.

Condition Notes

35 mm slide in excellent condition.

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