Arts Council to sponsor bus trip to Haan Museum of Art, May 26

Greencastle Arts Council is hitting the road for its maiden bus trip to the historic Haan Museum of Indiana Art in Lafayette on May 26. Tickets, including museum admission and roundtrip transportation on a professional, restroom-equipped Turner motor coach, are $40. Seating is limited, so patrons are encouraged to purchase their tickets from a board member by the GAC’s next monthly meeting at the Putnam County Public Library on Monday, May 2.

GAC plans to arrive in Lafayette at approximately 10 a.m. by meeting at 8 a.m. in the Putnam County Museum parking lot at 110 N. Jackson Street in Greencastle and departing Greencastle at 8:30 am. After viewing the exhibits and sculpture garden, next stop will be The Town & Gown Bistro in West Lafayette for a savory lunch and to say hello to owner Matt O’Neill, former chef at The Walden Inn. Cultivated and well-fed, the party will arrive back in Greencastle at about 4 p.m.

The Haan Museum, which is known for an exceptional collection of Hoosier painting and pottery, is housed in a 16,000 square feet mansion, along with a major collection of antique 19th-century American furniture. Originally built to house the Connecticut state pavilion at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair, the home was modeled to represent a 1760s-gentleman’s country home. It also was designed with the intent of being auctioned off and relocated after the fair. As the buyers were Mr. and Mrs. William Potter, its final destination was Lafayette, where it was known for many years as Potter Mansion.

“The core of the museum’s permanent collection is an impressive body of the best works of T.C. Steele, the Hoosier Group and the Brown County Art Colony, collected over time by Ellie and Bob Haan, who later purchased the mansion from the Potters,” said board member Lane Ralph, coordinator of the trip. “The special show that we’ll be seeing, the ‘Generations: Fine Art Sale and Exhibition,’ is a selection of premier pieces by ten painters currently working in Indiana, some of which also are for sale.”

Ralph continued, “This is the first time the GAC has organized a bus trip, so it is a bit of an experiment to sound out whether there is an audience in Putnam County for occasional cultural excursions like this.”

As seating is limited to 36 passengers, interested individuals are asked to purchase their tickets from a board member by the GAC’s next monthly meeting at the Putnam County Public Library on Monday, May 2. Alternatively, they may mail their payment to the Greencastle Arts Council (P.O. Box 631, Greencastle IN 46135). Enter “Bus Trip” in the memo line of the check. For additional information visit the GAC website (greencastleartscouncil.org) or contact Lane Ralph at lane@greencastleartscouncil.org or (765) 721-1519.