The Hancock Historical Museum will host its monthly Brown Bag Lecture on Thursday, June 1st at noon.

Cincinnati-based artist, Dr. Robert Kroeger, will give a painting demonstration and speak about his most recent book, Round Barns of America. Books will be available to be purchased and signed.

While staying at a bed and breakfast in Licking County, Ohio, in the early 2000s, a deteriorating barn captivated the eye of artist and retired dentist, Robert Kroeger. This first barn would ignite Kroeger’s “Ohio Barn Project,” which has taken the artist to all of Ohio’s 88 counties to paint, research, and write about historic barns.

In nearly every county, Dr. Kroeger has donated the proceeds from the sale of his paintings to a local historical organization. A collection of Kroeger’s essays and paintings from every Ohio county was compiled in Historic Barns of Ohio, published in 2021.

More recently, Dr. Kroeger’s interest in historic barns has taken him outside the boundaries of Ohio to paint and document rare round barns across the country. In his new book, Round Barns of America, Kroeger shares the stories and paintings of 75 round barns that represent a cross-section of American pioneers, dating from years before the American Revolution to the glory decades of round barn construction—1870s to 1920s.

Thursday’s lecture is free for museum members, and $3 for nonmembers.

For more information, call the Hancock Historical Museum at 419-423-4433, or visit hancockhistoricalmuseum.org.