Garden and Art Show Brings 160 Visitors to the Crosse House

Downtown Sun Prairie had a lot going on the weekend of June 26 and 27 — the Garden Club Tour was in full bloom, Mural Fest had brought artists out onto the streets, and right in the middle of it all, the doors of the Crosse House were open for our annual Garden & Art Show.

Inside, local artists filled the rooms with their work. Outside, the garden did what it always does this time of year — stopped people in their tracks. It's the kind of garden that looks effortless, which is exactly why most visitors have no idea how much work goes into it. That work belongs almost entirely to member Marilyn Stier, who plans and tends it season after season to ensure that people and pollinators alike can enjoy the beautiful blooms.

Down at the Farmer's Market, Board members Kristin Teston and Alex Roberson were working the younger crowd with a stack of face-painting "coupons," sending kids toward the Crosse House with a mission. By the time they arrived, a line had formed on the porch — and it didn't let up. Member Lynn Belanger spent the day turning small faces into rainbows, alligators, and butterflies, one brushstroke at a time, while the queue for her artistry wound its way around the porch.

For the kids waiting their turn, there was plenty to do: coloring pages featuring the Crosse House, and a stack of children's books introducing them to Sun Prairie's most famous artist, Georgia O'Keeffe for a small history lesson tucked between the face paint and the flowers.

When the weekend wrapped, 160 visitors had passed through for the gardens, the art, the house, and a Saturday well spent with their families and friends.