James Tellen Woodland Sculpture Garden - Sheboygan, Wisconsin

5634 Evergreen Drive, Sheboygan, WI

James Tellen started building these concrete sculptures on the grounds of the family summer cabin in 1942. For many years he had enjoyed painting and wood carving as hobbies, but while recovering from an illness he was inspired by cast concrete sculptures at a church across from the hospital to try his hand at sculpture.

Scattered through the pine forest in front and back of the summer house, Tellen created crisply realistic memorials to Native Americans, Lincoln and other iconic heroes of folklore. Near the far end of the property are sculptures of Jesus and Mary, and squat architectural miniatures inspired places in the Bible, built like sand castles made from concrete with embedded stone. Tellen continued adding artwork to the garden until his death in 1957.

The Woodland Sculpture Garden has been restored by the Kohler Foundation.