JACOB BAKER, WI
1880-1939
SELECTED SCULPTURES PERMANENTLY INSTALLED IN ARTS CENTER GARDENS

Jacob Baker, Dream House, c. 1910–1939; concrete and mixed media; 48 x 48 x 48 in.

Jacob Baker, a carpenter, earned his living building houses for people throughout picturesque Menominee, Illinois. Using a form he knew well, Baker made a number of small "Dream Houses," constructed of a wood frame with multiple gables and countless objects set into a surface layer of concrete. Little is known about Baker other than that he evidently had a penchant for collecting figurines, radio tubes, bits of crockery, furniture knobs, shells, mirrors, small toys, and other interesting items—all of which found a home on his dream houses, planters, and three-dimensional star forms.