Amish Acres announces the 2012 inductees into its Golden

AMISH ACRES
Historic Farm & Heritage Resort
Nappanee, Indiana
Arts & Crafts Festival
Where Arts meet Folk & Folks
meet Art
Press contact
Janis Logsdon
Amish Acres, LLC
1600 West Market Street
Nappanee, IN 46550
(574) 773‐4188
JanisLogsdon@AmishAcres.com
www.AmishAcres.com
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Amish Acres announces the
2012 inductees into its Golden Anniversary
Arts & Crafts Festival Hall of Fame
Amish Acres in Nappanee, Indiana, will celebrate its 50 th
anniversary August 2 through 5, 2012. Five behind‐the‐
scenes people played diverse, but vital roles in creating a
small clothes line art show in 1962 in downtown Nappanee.
They helped lay the foundation for the growth of the event
that is now recognized by the American Bus Association as
one of the TOP 100 Events in North America for 2012. For
their early contributions they are being inducted into Amish
Acres Arts & Crafts Festival’s hall of fame.
Dori Crane, Dale Paul Culp, Theodore Good, Joyce Sheneman, and Ollie Stutzman, plus
Jacqueline Gnott and Linda Olsen join the twenty six previous members of the hall of fame
inducted since its inception in 1996. “The majority of the hall of fame members are artists of
outstanding talent and long time loyalty to the festival,” said Richard Pletcher, founder of the
festival and Amish Acres. “Five of these six 2012 inductees come from the behind the scenes
beginnings of the show. Their diverse contributions were responsible for the event growing
beyond its meager beginnings to the then unimaginable event it has become.”
When the idea for the first clothes line art show in
front of Pletcher Furniture in downtown Nappanee
was born, Dori Crane was the first person recruited.
She was a Nappanee artist and in charge of the
summer art class held at the west side park pavilion
for young students. She introduced art to the young
students with the help of well know South Bend

artist Joseph Wroble. With her encouragement and guidance the event happened on time and
was well organized. All of the original art entered in the show came from her students.
As a high school student, Deke Culp caught the vision of the festival and was instrumental in the
first set up of the art show. He became a prodigy of Ollie Stutzman and soon was assisting with
the ever more complex electrical needs of the show. Like Ollie, he followed the festival to
Amish Acres and became its first full time head of buildings and grounds. He was responsible
for the building boom that added many of the relocated buildings to the growing historic
farmstead. He played a major role in integrating the festival and Amish Acres into the nationally
recognized event it has become.
Theodore Good was a near legend in northern Indiana as a renaissance man. He lived with his
wife Gladys in Etna Green, Indiana. Their yellow house, the first house past the town’s square,
was an ever changing museum of antiques and paintings. A studio was located across the alley
that was a treasure trove of visually exciting artistic finds and Theodore’s own work. He painted
ceiling frescos in two of the churches located within several blocks of his home. He was well
known in the area’s art circles and leagues and was recruited to broaden the base of the
evolving art show and add credibility to its growing reputation thus drawing quality artists to
join into the event.
Joyce Sheneman became the first director of the marketplace that is now the centerpiece of
the festival. With responsibilities for recruiting artists and organizing their participation, she
held the position for 21 years from 1966 until 1986. She returned to lead the Bremen church of
the Brethren fund raising group from 2000 until 2008.
Ollie Stutzman worked at Pletcher Furniture for three decades. He was a jack of all trades with a
specialist’s degree in electricity. He designed and wired the new Pletcher Furniture Store,
installed draperies, laid carpet, and became Lenore Pletcher’s right hand man. Ollie was a good
sport about the art show, providing the first string of lights and outlet for the popcorn wagon
on the streets and down the alleys as the show grew. He followed the festival to Amish Acres
and installed much of the underground wiring and circuitry that is still in use over forty years
later.
Jacqueline Gnott is a five time Best of Show Winner in the two dimensional class. The
Jacqueline Gnott rule was imposed for two years to prevent an artist from winning more than
four Best of Show Awards, but her Contemporary Realism in Watercolor couldn’t be denied.
Linda Olsen has been an exhibitor in the festival for twenty six years with her doll clothing. She
is the perfect example of the artist’s ingenuity as her creations have evolved into Wee Line Doll
Clothing for American Girl Dolls.

Today over 4,000 artist and craftsmen from
across the country are invited to apply for the
300 booths that make up the festival’s
marketplace that surrounds Amish Acres farm’s
pond. The year round jury process brings
together a carefully chosen mix of today’s arts
and crafts trends from across the nation. It is
expected that the 2012 class of accepted artists
will hail from well over thirty states and
represent nearly two hundred cities. Through an
emerging artist scholarship plan, new artists
from the local area are given a chance to join the marketplace and be mentored to become part
of the next generation of artists that carry on the festival’s fifty year tradition of providing
affordable, varied, and ever changing arts and crafts.
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