Collector's Showcase: The House of the Singing Winds - En Homage

Name: Collector's Showcase: The House of the Singing Winds - En Homage
Start: 2025-10-13T10:00:00-04:00
End: 2025-10-13T17:00:00-04:00
Location: The Historic Brown County Art Gallery

Schedule

Mon Oct 13 2025 at 10:00 am to 05:00 pm

UTC-04:00

Location

The Historic Brown County Art Gallery | Nashville, IN

A three-year painting project by artists C.W. Mundy and Rita Spalding as a tribute to Theodore and Selma Steele and the Place Where It All Began.
It is almost 100 years since the passing of pioneer Indiana impressionist artist Theodore Clement Steele. This Indiana born artist who had trained in Munich and exhibited across the country spent the remainder of is inspired career in a backwoods county in southern Indiana known as the Hills o’ Brown. After decades of painting the portraits of the rich and famous, it was his love of the outdoors that led him to become the artist who would bring impressionist art to Indiana. In 1907, he bought land between Nashville and Bloomington near the tiny road stop of Belmont. And he brought his young wife Selma to join him in the wilderness. He would build a body of work that continues to draw us into the beauty of Indiana. And she would create an art sanctuary from the rugged hillside that became the “House of the Singing Winds”. And her vision would lead to the T.C. Steele State Historic Site.
Through economic downturns, harsh weather and illness, the couple persevered and created an art center that brought highly trained artists from the world’s best academies to Brown County. These newcomers would form the early Brown County Art Colony, part of a regional art movement that swept America in the early 1900s. The artists brought visitors, crafts, potteries, and the locals provided places to stay. The 1920’s were a glorious time to be an artist, and the House of the Singing Winds was at its peak.
There were hundreds of visitors and a new place to exhibit, the Brown County Art Gallery, home to a new art association made up of artists who decided to make Nashville home.
As we look back a century ago when success was theirs, did Theodore and Selma feel pride? If they were to capture the moment on canvas, if they could see it through new eyes, who would they choose to memorialize this special place? It was a question the organizers of this exhibit discussed. And they chose two of Indiana’s most accomplished artists. C. W. Mundy, known for his unmatched talent and his versatile style to capture the sites lush gardens and historic structures and still life floral and portrait artist extraordinaire Rita Spalding, whose meticulous eyes and hand would capture the very personal inside spaces. Thus began a three-year project of experiencing what the Steeles felt during all the seasons of the year and settling on the 1920s as the time frame for their work. Rita was the first artist to paint inside the house since Steele died in 1926. With research, studying old photos and talking with site curators, C.W. and Rita have assembled a collection of work that is both moving and dazzling.
Paintings by Steele himself will be included. Visitors will be taken back in time, almost 100 years ago.
The works by Mundy and Spalding will be offered for sale with part of the proceeds to benefit the Brown County Art Gallery Foundation as it enters its 100th year.