Carl Haugen's Rock Garden(1936)
Extant
166 W. Riverside Ave., Mondovi, Wisconsin, 54755, United States
1960s to Present
Much of the work is visible from the street. Haugen enjoys receiving visitors, and if you catch him while he's outside gardening, he may take you on a tour of his work.
About the Artist/Site
An avid road tripper, Carl Haugen collected rocks from notable sites throughout the United States and Canada that he visited with this family and brought them home to Mondovi, Wisconsin, to create his own geological formations – with some creative flair.
Haugen’s rock collections are installed throughout the front and backyard with the primary arrangement running along the back perimeter of his backyard. It takes the shape of a tiny mountain range and includes rocks that were collected from sites in South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, West Virginia, and more. Nestled amongst the mostly pyramidal natural rocks is a handmade mountain built from concrete and decorated with found object mosaic. Created in 1963, this was Haugen’s first sculpture. In the late 1960s, he went on to create more concrete and mosaic pieces throughout his yard, including a bird bath and a small rock arrangement that rests on a tree stump; a faded American flag flies from its center. Interspersed among the rocks in the backyard are the graves of beloved family pets marked by cardboard discs. Though many of the discs are now sun faded beyond legibility, they were once marked by the pet’s name and date of death. Haugen is also an avid gardener, and a neat field of gladiolus stands proudly in the back corner of his yard.
Haugen’s second primary installation is a low wall of more rocks and found objects that runs along the perimeter of his driveway. The wall acts as a diary of sorts with embedded objects from throughout the life of his family, including jewelry, birthday cake toppers, household knick knacks, and pet tags. A small bed of cacti is planted above the front corner of the wall. When asked about these relatively out-of-place plants, Haugen replied that he received the first cactus from Herman Rusch who created Prairie Moon about 35 miles southwest of Mondovi. While Haugen received his cactus from Rusch, he claims Rusch got his idea for his “mountain” on site from him. Haugen never went to Rusch’s dance hall while it was in operation, but he did visit after it had been transformed into a museum.
Haugen is often at home and enjoys visitors. While much of his work is visible from the street, if you catch him while he’s outside gardening, he might take you to view the artwork in his backyard.
Materials
rocks, concrete, found objects
Map & Site Information
166 W. Riverside Ave.
Mondovi, Wisconsin, 54755
us
Latitude/Longitude: 44.5645627 / -91.6720265
Nearby Environments
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