Folk & Fable: Levi Fisher Ames & Albert Zahn +Faythe Levine

The power of storytelling—whether through words, images, or figures—united the artists featured in Folk & Fable. Artist and curator Faythe Levine responded to Ames and Zahn with her contemporary photographs of artist-built environments along with site-specific, hand-painted wall text. In addition, work was commissioned by two additional contemporary artists—watercolors by Stacy Rozich, and the re-creation of historical signage by Norma Jeanne Maloney.

Wisconsin artists Levi Fisher Ames (1843–1923) and Albert Zahn (1864–1953) carved animals out of wood to create wondrous worlds that were both imaginary and instructive.

Ames made hundreds of miniatures of real and mythic creatures that became the “L.F. Ames Museum of Art,” a traveling tent show. He recounted both tall and truthful tales about his “specimens” to the delight of audiences, tapping into the popularity of the circuses and sideshows that were prevalent throughout Wisconsin.

Zahn spent his days carving woodland creatures in the forest surrounding his home in Baileys Harbor. By the early 1930s, hundreds of carvings dotted the house and yard. Zahn’s birds, flora, and fauna were a vivid ode to his love of nature; the many angels and a towering family tree bespoke his dedication to traditional values. Owing to the plethora of winged forms, Zahn’s art environment was named “Birds Park.”