Inspired by the Indiana Dunes

September 10, 2015

Twenty-five dollars and a sunburn … that?s what Audrey Howland, then a 19-year-old model and dancer, got for posing for this poster, advertising the Indiana Dunes along
the South Shore Line. School has started again and a few leaves have even
started changing color languid summer days spent at the beach seem long gone.
Yet, fall was exactly the time that Frank Dudley fell in love with the Dunes.

Dudley was an artist. Born and raised in Wisconsin, he moved to Chicago
where he opened various shops selling art supplies and photographing portraits.
He also studied art and began submitting his paintings to the Chicago Art
Institutes. In his early 40s he discovered the Indiana Dunes and
began to paint them almost exclusively, against the advice of others.

In 1918, he submitted 30
paintings of the Dunes to the annual salon. Some visitors, unfamiliar with the
nearby Dunes, thought that the paintings were landscapes from the west. Dudley’s
paintings helped raise awareness and he helped fight for the protection of the
dunes.

In 1925, the Indiana Dunes State Park was created and in 1966 the Indiana
Dunes National Lakeshore was formed. Today, you can visit year round. Youcan
also pop in to see our exhibit on display that highlights posters, pictures,
and a painting by Dudley until Oct. 7. When you stop by you can
also take a look at the books The Indiana Dunes Revealed: The Artof
Frank V Dudley and Moonlight in Duneland: The Illustrated Story of
the Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad.

You can also head up to the fourth floor of the History Center to see art by Indiana artists
featured in the Hoosier Salon (open until Sept. 26). A long tradition,
Dudley even exhibited his work at the Hoosier Salon. And if you can’t make it
in, you can always check out our digital collections here to see a bit more about the Dunes. There are
many ways to be inspired by the Indiana Dunes.

Alyssa Boge is a collections assistant in Reference Services. She likes cooking, crafting and biking, and dreams of creating a synchronized library cart dance.

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