Sleepy Cat Studio
photo by Paige Langenderfer
~ by Paige Langenderfer
Tucked away off of a beautiful, winding country road is Brown County’ s newest hidden treasure. Artist Monique Cagle refers to it as her studio, but really it is more like the biggest sculpture she will likely ever craft.
Upon quick glance, you might not notice anything unusual about the grain bin on her property. The familiar rippled steel panels remain on the exterior, but a look inside
16 Our Brown County July / August 2017 reveals the extraordinary transformation from a structure of rigid functionality to one of beauty and whimsy.
It took her a year to remodel her grain bin studio, with the help of her husband, brother, and general contractor Rob Mills, but the dream began long before that.
“ I have always worked out of my home, but I really needed a proper studio. I was running out of room in my house and I never could get the right light,” she said.“ I got the idea about five years ago. I saw that people were turning old grain bins into bars and bed and breakfasts and I thought,‘ A grain bin would make a really cool studio.’”
The building trades teacher at the high school was so impressed by the idea that he offered to take on the renovation as a project for his students. The students put in the sub floor, cut out the doors, and put in did some electrical work. Unfortunately, the teacher retired shortly after the work began and the school decided to discontinue the project.
“ At that point I really wasn’ t sure what I was going to do. I didn’ t know if I would be able to continue with the renovation because I did not have the money in my budget to pay for a general contractor,” Cagle said.