Stromeyer barn in Jackson County, Iowa.
The new documentary The Barn Raisers by Emmy® nominated filmmakers Kelly and Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films will be showcased at a Humanities Iowa preview event on Saturday, November 5th at the Johnston Public Library, 6700 Merle Hay Road in Johnston, Iowa. This special program is free to the public and sponsored by Humanities Iowa. The one-hour film will begin at 2:00 p.m. followed by Q&A with the filmmakers and other film participants.
The Barn Raisers tells the story of barns in the Upper Midwest by examining them through the lens of architecture. The film explores what barn styles, building methods and materials tell us about the people who built them, the life they lived and the role these “country cathedrals” played in the settling and building of the Nation.
Barns were constructed by farmer-craftsmen, professional builders who traveled from job to job and even architects like Frank Lloyd Wright. The Barn Raisers will paint a cinematic portrait of barns and builders, an important way of life that has been largely forgotten, and the film will remind us that these remnants from America’s rural past are still here to be interpreted and experienced.
Flynn Barn at Living History Farms in Urbandale, Iowa. A Silos & Smokestacks partner site.
Numerous Iowa barns appear in the film. Several featured barns include the Luxembourg village of St. Donatus’ old world barn, one of Iowa’s oldest structures, located in Jackson County, Iowa. Boone Iowa’s Good Farm has preserved the barn that was home to the world-famous Belgian horse Farceur. The horse was purchased in 1915 by C.G. Good for about $47,000 as a service stud. Farceur was buried in the barn standing up, as was the European custom. In addition to Iowa, the film was shot in Wisconsin, Kansas, Ohio and Michigan.
Through its fiscal sponsor Kansas Public Telecommunication Services (KPTS-PBS), The Barn Raisers was funded in part by a grant from Humanities Iowa and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Humanities Iowa is the only non-profit organization in Iowa committed to bringing the humanities to life and to the public through interactive programming, publications, and events. The views and opinions expressed by this program do not necessarily reflect those of Humanities Iowa or the National Endowment for the Humanities.
KPTS is a publicly-owned television station that educates, engages, entertains and enriches Kansans and viewers of all ages and in all walks of life by illuminating the challenges faced by society and presenting civilization's highest achievements.
The Rundles are the producers of the regional Emmy® nominated historical documentaries Country School: One Room – One Nation, River to River: Iowa’s Forgotten Highway 6 and Letters Home to Hero Street (co-produced with WQPT-PBS).