The crew that kept Fred Smith’s army standing
Conservation records for Midwest art environments, with Fred Smith’s Wisconsin Concrete Park in Phillips as the flagship.
Three chapters, one park
1977: the storm that almost ended the park. Don Howlett and Sharron Quasius were hired by Kohler Foundation, Inc. to restore Fred Smith’s Wisconsin Concrete Park, beginning that spring. On July 4, 1977, a tremendous windstorm swept the site and caused extensive damage. Because a restoration was already under way, the park was not bulldozed; the damaged sculptures were rebuilt with emergency funds from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Wisconsin Arts Board.
1978 to now: a county park with an annual care routine. In 1978 Kohler Foundation deeded the site to Price County, and it became a public county park. Annual conservation projects aim to keep the site as close as possible to its original condition, in the spirit Fred Smith created it.
Howlett & Stone: who did the work. Howlett and Stone have worked on the park’s preservation together since 1987. In 1995 they worked with park enthusiasts in Price County to form Friends of Fred Smith, Inc., which oversees preservation of the sculptures, landscape and the historic Smith Family House. Lisa Stone wrote the nomination that listed the park on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005. More on the conservators →
Sites we have worked on
Seven art environments across Wisconsin, Iowa and the Upper Midwest. The park in Phillips is the one this archive is built around.
Fred Smith’s Wisconsin Concrete Park
The flagship site: 237 concrete-and-glass figures, and the 1977 storm rescue.
Nick Engelbert’s Grandview
A Wisconsin farmyard rebuilt as a painted, sculpted world.
Paul and Matilda Wegner Grotto
A roadside grotto of concrete and glass built by a retired couple.
A Phillips day trip
The park sits on Hwy 13 south of Phillips. Town, food and a pint are a few minutes away — Prentice and the Ripsaw are a separate stop, not a walk. Plan a Phillips day →