Monday, June 22, 2009

Nashville, Indiana

Art Colony of the Midwest

5 miles south of Bean Blossom lies Nashville, Indiana. Nashville is a destination in and of itself – if you like to shop. It is home to the Art Colony of the Midwest (who would have guessed?). Artists have been coming to Brown County since 1870 and the colony is considered to have been firmly established in 1907. I have no idea how many shops and art galleries and studios are in town but the number has to be well over 100. Many of the shops sell typical mass-made jewelry, arts and crafts. Then there are the true art galleries and artists studios which abound with all kinds of art all made by local artists. Paintings, pottery, jewelry, stained glass, mosaics, hand made furniture, and on and on. It seems as though lots of people know about this place because the streets are packed with tourists.

Brown County's picturesque rolling landscape, a gift of the Ice Age, has inspired many artists, and visitors. The glacier that flattened most of Indiana, stopped just over the Brown County line and created the hills and valleys and the "blue haze" that has Brown County Indiana well known as the "Little Smoky Mountains".

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