BORN IN MITCHELL COUNTY AND BECAME A FAMOUS ARTIST #1: Isabel Moore was born at Wentworth, Mitchell county, Iowa in 1863. She died at Riceville, Iowa, in 1950. She was the daughter of D.W. Kimball of McIntire, Iowa, and a niece of W.W. Kimball the Kimball Piano maker. In 1902 it was stated that Isabelle Moore Kimball was a teacher of sculpture at Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, but much of her work has been done in Chicago. On the right is a photo of Isabel at work in her studio. She studied art at the Art Institute of Chicago, and taught school for a time in Mitchell county, Iowa. Two of her more famous works include the statue of "Wynona" the Indian maiden, and daughter of chief Wabasha III, and "Merchild," a 1914 bronze statue of a child mermaid. Isabel Moore Kimball is the great aunt of, the University of Wisconsin at Whitewater, Professor Emeritus Martha van Steenderen. At left, is a bronze sculpture of Isabel's entitled Merchild. Most of her summers were spent in Riceville, Iowa, where she worked and sometimes taught pupils from the local area and away. Shows of the works produced at her summer art school were held in the studio at Kimball Knoll, and on one occasion she helped organize an exhibit of local handiwork, including many articles by older people of the time in the room over Noble's hardware store. Thus, she promoted appreciation for the artistic and mechanical skills to be found close to home as well as the great art of other times and places. From July 1917 to April 16, 1941, Isabel kept a home on a hilltop at Mountainville, New York, to which she and her artist friends could retreat from New York City. They planted many flowers, shrubs, and fruit trees, making an ideal setting for painting, drawing, and just enjoying the pleasures of nature. Friends and relatives from her Iowa home were also welcomes many times over the years. In the 1930's she joined the Fifteen Gallery in Manhattan, wheose members collaborated to rent space to exhibit and market their work and that of invited artists and organizations. In her later years, she lived with her widowed sister, Elizabeth, in Elgin, Illinois, and finally returned in 1947 to Riceville with Elizabeth to live with their nephew, Curtis Noble's family. On the right is Isabel's statue of the Indian maiden, Wynona, daughter of Chief Wabasha III. It was located in a park in Winona, Minnesota. She died at home at Kimball Knoll on June 5, 1950, and is remembered for her devotion to her family and the love for art she brought to those who knew her. [ Read the entire biography about Isabel on the IaGenWeb bios board for Mitchell county. ] [ MITCHELL COUNTY HISTORY, 1989 ] #2: On the left is one view of Isabel's large sculpture entitled Creation. It is carved on all four sides. The following is from perhaps an early 20th century newspaper article. "Miss Isabel Moore Kimball, who executed the bronze portrait medallion of Mr. R. C. Barrett recently presented to the Historical Department by Mrs. Barrett, was born in Mitehell county, Iowa. Her parents were David W. and Sarah Moore Kimball who came from New England to Iowa in the fifties and took up land in Mitchell county. Miss Kimball spent her early life on a farm and received her early education in the public and private schools of Riceville and Decorah. "She taught for a while in the public schools in Mitchell county and then studied art at the Chicago Art Institute and at Pratt Institute, New York, On the right is Isabel's Girl Holding Cat. graduating from the Normal Art Course of that institute. After teaching drawing for four years in the State Normal School at Moorhead, Minnesota, and during the summer sessions at the University of Minnesota and normal schools of Minnesota and Iowa, she went to New York to study sculpture with Herbert Adams, occupying her evenings in teaching drawing in the evening classes at Pratt Institute. "Miss Kimball has made two trips abroad, studying in the museums of London, Paris, Rome, Florence and Athens. Her work has been exhibited at the National Academy of Design and the Architectural League, New York; the spring Salon, Paris; Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia On the right is Isabel's sculpture of a child, dated 1911, and is located in the the Smithsonian Institution. "and the Art Institute of Chicago. One of her best pieces of work is a memorial fountain at Winona, Minnesota. Miss Kimball chose as the subject of the fountain the Indian girl, Winona, who stands with hand shading her eyes, looking off in the distance, while below her a spray from the upturned throats of pelicans and tortoises is carried across the fountain. "Miss Kimball's studio at present is in Brooklyn, New York."