James Tellen Education Resources

James Tellen worked as a “striper” at the Northern Furniture Company in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Stripers added accent stripes and details to chairs and other furniture. After a stay in a local hospital in 1942 where he viewed marble statues of saints and grottos from his window, he was inspired to create his own sculptural environment.

Beginning in 1942 and continuing until his death in 1957, James Tellen created more than thirty sculptures out of concrete in the woods surrounding his family’s summer cottage in Wilson, Wisconsin. He built the cottage with his wife, Elizabeth, in the 1920s. When he built the cabin, he learned about the properties of concrete, which helped him understand how to use the material to create sculptures out of concrete later in his life.

His sculptures are inspired by historical, religious, and mythical people and stories. Visitors can visit the site as part of Wandering Wisconsin, a group of nine artist-built environments across the state.