Introduction
The box, as a shape and object, holds a significant place in the art world. It is the shape of painters’ canvases, the frame of a film reel, and the floor of the stage. It holds the tools of drawers, serves as the body of cameras, and forms the foundation of many buildings.
Map of McHenry County, Digital Image. Woodstock, Illinois, 2013.
McHenry County Government Website, Woodstock, Illinois.
A lesser-known box-shaped contributor to the art world is the small, rectangular county of McHenry in northern Illinois. Located at the southern border of Wisconsin, settlers formed the county in 1836, only a few years after the Black Hawk War. The county developed first as a place for farmers coming west. In later years, with the development of the railroad and factories, outsiders knew the county as a place for cheese making, and general dairy farming. Though known for its agriculture, McHenry County has changed over the years to make a variety of products.
Looking back, one wonders if the founders of the county imagined the artists who would pass in and out of its borders. For almost since its formation, the county has been the birthplace and home to a number of popular and noteworthy artists in the United States.
From movies to buildings, from paintings to cartoons, these artists used a variety of mediums to touch the world and share stories with the rest of their country. Here is a selection of significant works, starting in 2012, and moving back in the county’s history.
History and Culture (2011); Untitled Article, fol. Marengo Schools (n.d)
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Stories, Structures, and Songs 