The Barn Raiser film inspires memories of beloved barns
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The Barn Raisers filmmakers Tammy and Kelly Rundle at the premiere at the Putnam Museum in Davenport, Iowa.
Last Sunday Dan and I went to see The Barn Raisers, an excellent, new documentary by Emmy® nominated Quad Cities filmmakers Kelly and Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films.
The film brings to life vintage barns in Iowa, Kansas, Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio. But The Barn Raisers isn’t just a lesson in Midwestern folk architecture. Through interviews with barn owners, writers, historians, craftsmen and preservationists, plus historic photos, vintage film reels and new footage taken at historic barns, the film weaves together stories of the barns and the people that built them. It introduced many barns, including a small show barn built circa 1915 at the C.G. Good Farm in Ogden, IA, to house Belgian champion “Farceur.” The film also featured a round barn outside of Davenport, and a Frank Lloyd Wright barn that’s part of the Taliesin Preservation in Spring Green, WI, plus many more.
The Rundles, who were present at the showing we watched at the Putnam Museum in Davenport, say they hope their movie will instill a greater sense of appreciation for barns and their importance in heartland history.
Read the rest ofKaren Loves Country's Blog post HERE!
Order the award-winning The Barn Raisers on DVD at http://www.fourthwallfilms.com/dvds.htm.
The 1871 Flynn Barn at Living History Farms in Urbandale, Iowa--a Silos & Smokestacks National Heritage Area partner site.
The Barn Raisers was partially funded by grants Silos and Smokestacks National Heritage Area, Humanities Iowa, the Kansas Humanities Council, the Michigan Barn Preservation Network, the Ohio Humanities Council, the National Barn Alliance/Russ & Lu Ann Mawby, and the Wisconsin Humanities Council, the Moline Foundation, and the Community Foundation of Jackson County. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this documentary film and program do not necessarily reflect those of the these organizations.
Fiscal sponsors for the project are Kansas Public Telecommunications Service, Inc., the Kansas Barn Alliance, Friends of Ohio Barns, Richland County Historical Society and the Jackson County Iowa Historical Society.
The Rundles are the producers of the regional Emmy® nominated historical documentaries Becoming Harriet Beecher Stowe, Good Earth: Awakening the Silent City, 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).
Order the award-winning The Barn Raisers on DVD at http://www.fourthwallfilms.com/dvds.htm.
Hi hard to believe you misssed Iowa's First barn / oldest barn ....next to the Iowa Sod Home,............. How did you Miss this barn , and its in Scott County?
Posted by: Tom Smalley | 05/12/2021 at 06:17 PM
Hi Tom. Thanks for your comment! The film is in no way a "catalog" of all Iowa barns. Each was chosen (in Iowa, Wisconsin, Kansas, Ohio, and Michigan) to help tell the story of Midwestern barn architecture. And you may know, more than one barn owner in Iowa claims their barn is the oldest. : ) Thanks again!
Posted by: Admin | 05/12/2021 at 10:58 PM