Porter County Museum’s current exhibit, "Life Work: The Artists Hazel & Vin Hannell," is an extensive exhibit of pieces by this prolific couple who made their home in the Duneland community of Furnessville in Northwest Indiana. The beautiful surroundings of the community, located near Lake Michigan in the Indiana Dunes provided endless inspiration for their various media.
The exhibit covers their artists' journeys from Chicago to Furnessville and beyond. Hazel was an American artist and activist born in the Chicago suburb of LaGrange. She began creating art as a young child, with her artistic endeavors spanning three centuries. She continued to produce art almost up until her death at age 106.
Hazel’s work stretched across many media, but she is best known for her pottery, watercolors, and woodblock prints. She studied at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago (SAIC) where she met her future husband. Her early work included fabric and wallpaper designs for Marshall Field and Company.
In 1923, she married fellow artist Vinol Hannell, who was born in Michigan but raised mostly in Finland. He became well known for his oil paintings and later wood sculpture and pottery. Many of his works in the decade after moving to Porter County in 1930 depicted farm animals and local barnyards, and several pieces from the personal collection of John Cain are on display.
The Hannells were founding members of the Association of Artists and Craftsmen of Porter County, which sponsors the annual Chesterton Art Fair. Hazel was the organizer of the first Chesterton Art Fair, an event that continues to this day. They also helped to establish an artists’ colony in Furnessville and were instrumental in the movement to save the Indiana Dunes.
The exhibit of Hannell works fills all three rooms of the museum, displaying paintings, sculpture, pottery, woodworking, and more. The exhibit is part of a collaboration with the Art Barn School of Art, Chesterton Art Center, Pines Village Retirement Communities, and Westchester Township History Museum. The exhibit will run through mid-October. For more information, visit pocomuse.org.
