Artists of the Dunes

Historical Society of Ogden Dunes October 4, 2009  11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Ogden Dunes, from its founding in 1925, has attracted and nurtured artists.  The dunes, the lake and the many varieties of trees and flora provide an environment that continues to stimulate the creative imagination.  Many of these artists established studios in their duneland homes. Over the years these artists have been involved with state, regional and local art associations and galleries.  The highly respected Hoosier Salon between the 1920s and 1970s invited a number of artists from Ogden Dunes to be part [...]

Joella Mahoney is a former Ogden Dunes resident and Professor of Art Emerita, University of La Verne where she began developing the art Department n 1964. She holds a B.A. in Art from Northern Arizona University and an MFA in painting from Claremont Graduate University. Mahoney is known for her dramatic, large scale landscapes in oil. Even though she has a flower series, a figure series, and a horse series, the canyon landscape of the Colorado Plateau has become the major motif of her paintings. Joella spent her childhood at 11 Woodland Trail in Ogden [...]

Frank Virgil Dudley (1868-1957) The Historical Society of Ogden Dunes is proud to sponsor a program by author James Dabbert about local dunes Frank V. Dudley on Sunday, April 13, 2008. The program includes several Dudley paintings never exhibited in public. Dudley lived during summers in what is now the Indiana Dunes State Park about ten miles east of Ogden Dunes. He was seen painting on the east side of Ogden Dunes by residents in the area now called Burns Ditch (and area soon to become the City of Portage beach on Lake Michigan). We are uncertain what [...]

William Fredrick Gingrich (December 22, 1874 - January 31, 1959) Within the collection of the Historical Society of Ogden Dunes are sixty-two, 3”*4” glass slides of photographs of the dunes.   William F. Gingrich is the photographer.  His name or initials appear on almost all the slides.   These slides were taken in the 1920s, perhaps the early 1930s;   some may be images of the Marquette Park lagoon; others of the Prairie Club cottages and/or the cottages in Porter Beach.   They may date from the time when the Prairie Club was active in the dunes, approximately 1915 [...]

On Sunday, May 27, 2007, the Historical Society of Ogden Dunes provided a special oral and video presentation about acclaimed cartoonist Dale Messick, creator of the "Brenda Starr, Reporter" comic series. Joan Meister began the program with a brief overview of Messick's life. A video excerpt from the documentary "Funny Ladies: A Portrait of Women Cartoonists" followed, and Joan's program ended with a personal reflection on Messick's legacy by her daughter Starr Rohrman. Dale's original cartoon artwork was displayed at the presentation. Dale Messick was a groundbreaking female cartoonist. Borne in South Bend in 1906, Dale grew up [...]