The mysterious figure behind the origin of Ox-Bow
Some stories don’t exist much beyond the mouths of locals. They were never written, instead passed from ear to ear over generations. And, as history would have it, the reality becomes all the more true when considering the stories of women. “I would venture to guess that Anon, who wrote so many poems without signing them, was often a woman,” said Virginia Woolf, a saying which was spun into the infamous phrase: anonymous was a woman.
Photo of the Bandle’s house circa 1900. Image courtesy of the Saugatuck-Douglas History Center.
Ox-Bow’s own history fell prey to this adage. While Walter Clute and Frederick Fursman—professors at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago—officially founded Ox-Bow, it was their student Elizabeth (Bessie) Viola Bandle who first invited them to paint in Saugatuck. Her parents were the owners of Bandle farm and the Riverside Rest (one of Saugatuck’s first Bed and Breakfasts), a property that hosted similar magical qualities of fresh air and abundant summer light that would later be attributed to Ox-Bow’s meadow on the lagoon. Throughout their stay on the Bandle’s property, the artists—Bandle, Clute, Fursmaan, and a handful of other students—enjoyed the landscape while painting en plein air. According to auction records, her father James H. Bandle even built a loft for the artists to take up residence in during those summer months. As local story goes, the tradition continued on property until Clute and Fursmaan eventually moved the tradition to the Shriver Inn on the Ox-Bow Lagoon.
And what of Elizabeth Bandle? The details are shadowed at best. Iowa teachers’ records show she made her way beyond Michigan, where she taught art at the Iowa School for the Deaf before moving to Phoenix, Arizona. By that time, she had taken the last name Johnson, likely meaning she married. In an era where sticking to one's roots was the norm, the few details we have of Bandle’s life paint an exciting picture that stretched across the continental United States.
Plat map featuring Bandle property. Image courtesy of the Saugatuck-Douglas History Center.
The thing about passing stories from ear to ear is that if we don’t listen, they become lost. One could look at the traces of Bandle’s legacy and mistake her merely as a host to Ox-Bow’s founders. Is it too far-fetched to consider Bandle a founder of Ox-Bow in her own right, as someone who truly laid the foundation for the artists that would gather in West Michigan season after season? She sensed the profound impact the light and land in Saugatuck could have on artists, and she extended an invitation. It’s that very invitation that fostered our school and residency that now boasts a 115-year history. And it’s that same spirit of welcome that now leads us to open up the meadow to artists of all ages and stages in our community-based Art on the Meadow programming. So what does your summer hold? Will you join in Bandle’s legacy and come learn on the meadow with us?
This article was written by Shanley Poole, Engagement Liaison & Storyteller, and was originally published in our 2024 Experience Ox-Bow Catalog.