Barns and Blooms at the Frankfort Library

Event Details

The Friends of the Frankfort Public Library will host a series of events celebrating Indiana’s historic barns. Activities include an exhibition about barns, featuring artwork and information about the history of barns provided by the Indiana Barn Foundation; a presentation by a member of the Indiana Barn Foundation highlighting the organization’s work; and a tour of the Old Gray Barn (an event venue housed in a restored historic barn).

Several of the programs take place on Friday, May 10.

• 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.—Historic barns exhibit open to the public.
• 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.—Garden journal workshop with Grace Gouveia. Participants will decorate a journal to document their garden journey. Registration is limited, so please sign up early.
• 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.—Farmer’s market. Approximately 20 vendors, including several farms, greenhouses and theme-appropriate artists, will set up on the library’s second floor.
• 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.—Hoosier storytellers program. Library employee Michael Clossin will interview Michael Taylor, artistic director of the Red Barn Summer Theatre, and other guests about the history of the theater (housed in a 1908 cattle barn) and its 55 seasons. They’ll also chat about the theater’s 2024 lineup of shows.
• 7 p.m. to 7:15 p.m.—Friends of the Frankfort Public Library annual meeting and announcement of the library’s volunteer of the year.
• 7:15 p.m. to 8 p.m.—Presentation by Indiana Barn Foundation (IBF) president Kent Yeager. Yeager will share the vision of the IBF and discuss its work in raising awareness of threatened Indiana barns. The IBF and Indiana Landmarks will display information about their organizations and their projects.

Additional activities in May:

• Sunday, May 19, 1 p.m.—The owners of the Old Gray Barn will host a tour of their event barn and discuss how they saved, renovated and breathed new life into the historic barn. Registration is not needed to attend the tour.
• Thursday, May 30, 4 p.m.—Artist Gwen Gutwein will discuss her Heritage Barns of Indiana Project, which has culminated with a published book, Heritage Barns of Indiana. Gutwein spent more than twelve years of traveling and painting to complete her 185 historic barn paintings from throughout Indiana. She’ll share the process of creating her barn paintings and discuss her own unique way of preserving historic barns. Heritage Barns of Indiana will be available for sale during Gutwein’s talk.

For more information, email Mindy Emswiller at memswiller@myfcpl.org.

This program received support from a Historic Preservation Education Grant offered by Indiana Humanities and Indiana Landmarks.