Eric Engstrom Fine Arts


Dr. Pierces Barn Old US 101, Near Orland, CA-2008 Mixed Media on canvas. 40H x 40W		Barn with Red Accents Old US Route 2, Creston, WA-2008 Mixed Media on canvas. 27H x 40W

During the twentieth century rural barns became the first billboards along the two-lane U.S. Route system, advertising automotive, medicinal, and other consumer products and became another source of farm income. They also became a popular vernacular art form. Now as the younger generations move away and small family farms disappear, many barns are left to rot in obscurity. Corporate farm interests now build large metal buildings that service large swaths of cropland and pasture. Many old barns are now torn down for the timbers they are constructed from, and are given a new life as structural and decorative elements in modern homes and businesses.