Submitted story

Robert Kroeger wants to paint your barn.

No, he isn’t going to show up at your farm with a couple of five-gallon buckets and a roller.

Kroeger, an artist and author who lives in Cincinnati, wants to create paintings of historic barns in the area and tell their stories.

The Champaign County Historical Society will be the beneficiary of his passion.

Kroeger will visit Champaign County in April in search of old barns (built prior to 1930) and their compelling stories. Kroeger’s paintings will be used in fundraisers for the historical society – as will sales of his two books, Historic Barns of Ohio, published by The History Press/Arcadia (featuring a barn in each of Ohio’s 88 counties), and Round Barns of America, published by Acclaim Press (featuring 75 round barns in 32 states, including 11 in Ohio).

The books sold out of their first printings within a year of publication, but they are still available through the Champaign County Historical Society Museum, 809 East Lawn Ave., and online sites.

With the books’ overwhelming reception – and with many more barn stories to share – Kroeger is looking for fascinating tales of old barns to include in his next Ohio historic barn book.

“I try to capture a barn and its story before they’re gone,” he says. “I like stories that illustrate the lives of these hardy pioneers.”

If you believe that your old barn has a good history behind it, contact the Champaign County Historical Society at 937-653-6721 or [email protected]. The Historical Society will contact Kroeger.

Kroeger, with the help of Ken Wright, treasurer and board member of the Historical Society, will arrange to meet the owners of barns that he selects for his April barn tour. When he’s here, he’ll take photos of the barns. His barn visits typically take about 30 minutes. He protects the privacy of owners of the barns he paints and includes in his books and website, identifying only the county of each barn (no directions or addresses published). Kroeger’s essays and barn paintings can be seen at www.barnart.weebly.com.

His passion for painting old barns was ignited in 2012 when he and his wife were on their way to a bed and breakfast in Licking County. They happened on a small grey barn that was showing its age.

“Like a thunderbolt right between the eyes, it just captivated me,” Kroeger said. “I heard a voice whisper inside my head, ‘You’re going to do this, write a story about this barn, do a painting,’ and that’s it.” The next day he got the initially reluctant owner to tell him the history of the barn and allow him to photograph it.

About the Champaign County Historical Society

The museum collects, preserves, and interprets artifacts, documents, and other resources from Champaign County to educate current and future generations about our history.

The museum has been located at 809 East Lawn Ave., Urbana, since 1972. Originally established in 1934, the museum first housed its collection at the former location of the Champaign County Library on West Market Street, and then moved to the Nutwood Barn, south of Grimes Field on North Main Street.

The Historical Society is conducting a capital campaign to expand its current facility, which is open to the public 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.

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Info from Champaign County Historical Society