Label
From “Keeping an Eye on History” at the OSH 2018
Interior, The Red House
Ken Carls
oil on canvas panel, ca. 2003
the story | The Red House, 325 Water Street, Douglas, overlooks Wade’s Bayou and the Kalamazoo River across to Saugatuck to the north. Designed by architect Jeff Scherer and completed in 2001, one of the barn-like house’s most notable features is a four-foot-by-sixteen-foot window in the living room (a portion of which is shown at the right side of the painting) that affords commanding views of the Bayou. The window was inspired by a similar window at Tonawanda, a house farther down the Kalamazoo designed by well-known Chicago designer Florence Hunn in 1927.
the artist | Ken Carls, Professor Emeritus, School of Art and Design at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, is a graphic designer and artist who divides his time between Michigan and California. Based in Douglas, he has actively promoted local arts and cultural not-for-profits for many years, serving on the boards of Ox-Bow, Saugatuck Center for the Arts, and Saugatuck-Douglas History Center, in addition to maintaining his art practice both here and in Palm Springs.
SDHC Collection, gift of Kenneth R. Carls and James A. Schmiechen
Accession number 2018.13.04