Retired farmer's creative legacy lives on at Prairie Moon Sculpture Garden in Wisconsin

Passing trains and scenic bluffs are a big part of Buffalo County, Wisconsin, but in the middle of it all is a garden where creativity and flowers grow together, all courtesy of a man named Herman Rusch.

After retiring from farm life in 1959, Rusch began building concrete, stone and rock sculptures near the village of Milton. By the mid '70s, he had nearly 40 creations. 

He made them mostly by hand and the pieces are about as random as it gets.

"Whatever inspired him at the moment," Marj Schaffner-Kanmueller said. "Eccentric. People thought he was strange."

Rusch built a snake, a church, a tower, a bear fighting a man and even dinosaurs.

"We've got our own Jurassic Park here," Schaffner-Kanmueller said.

Rusch was known as what's called an "outsider artist," meaning he was self-taught and wasn't involved in mainstream art. Look closely and you'll see why. He used glass and even seashells in his pieces, really anything he could get his hands on.

"Broken up dishes and rocks from everywhere," Schaffner-Kanmueller said.

Inside the museum, which is a former dance hall, you'll find the work of another outsider artist who also used stone. Fred Schlosstein made miniature homes and businesses.

"I think any good artist, that's what they lean into. They lean into what inspired them, what interests them," Mike Adank said.

Adank grew up in the area and has found the museum and garden both odd and inspirational.

"I hope they come explore, discover, learn and leave inspired," Adank said.

The Prairie Moon Garden and Museum is free and open to the public. A nonprofit takes care of the property with funding help from the Kohler Foundation.