A study of a marvelous piece of folk art that draws thousands of admiring visitors each year

Throughout the American Midwest fantastic constructions of cement encrusted with broken glass and stones sparkle on the landscape. These are known locally as grottos. One of the largest is the Dickeyville Grotto. Tourists come to see its unusual religious and patriotic shrines and gardens.

Dickeyville Grotto is the realization of the vision and dedication of Father Mathias Wernerus, a German immigrant (1873-1931) who served his Wisconsin farming community as a parish priest.

Built between 1920 and 1931, this visionary marvel comprises a number of free-standing structures including constructions dedicated to the Blessed Virgin and to Christ. Another area depicts Christopher Columbus, George Washington, and Abraham Lincoln.

This book describes and documents the grotto and discusses the life experiences and the imagination of its creator. Drawing upon his own religious convictions, his German heritage, and his knowledge of other German-American shrines, Wernerus claimed divine help in his work. He constructed his shrine from the homely debris of domestic life, from souvenir plates and commemorative statuary brought to him by his parishioners and by visitors.

With the basis of Father Wernerus's letters, contemporary newspaper accounts, and interviews with parishioners who knew the artist, this book probes the relationship of the artist to his art and considers the influence of his work upon the community of folk artists in the upper midwest.

Susan A. Niles is a professor of anthropology at Lafayette College

72 pp., 40 full-color illustrations