S.D. Meadows Folk Art Gallery

in Illinois Made
October 18, 2016

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Steve Meadows began his journey in 1986 as an architect and carpenter. Three decades later, this self-taught artist’s mastery for turning everyday objects into whimsical sculptures has landed his work on the shortlist of America’s leading contemporary folk artists.

S.D. Meadows Folk Art Gallery is housed in a restored 1900s storefront along the Lincoln Heritage Trail in Palestine—the oldest town in Illinois and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Travelers who explore this Southern Illinois town can’t miss the brightly colored, fantastic rustic woodcarvings that welcome you into Steve’s functioning workshop.

Imagine cartoonish characters crafted with doorknob eyeballs and leaf rake spiky hair or flowers made of fan blades and Jell-O molds. As one visitor from New Jersey described, “The store is amazing and filled with some of the best and most exciting folk art I have ever experienced. Steve’s imagination and skill turn normal objects and castaways into magical creatures.”

Steve formed his artistic style in a town built from the pioneering spirit of America. In doing so, he’s inspired other artists, including Larry Miller of Coon Hollow Studio, to make this place the home where the vanishing, rural and small-town American scene is remembered and repurposed into seminal works of art.

Discover more Illinois artisans at Illinois Made.