Attracted by the area’s natural beauty and its residents’ rustic lifestyles, a group of professional artists began working in Brown County by 1908. The Brown County Art Colony gained renown as its members exhibited regularly, first in the Midwest, then nationally. Many of the artists worked to capture the character of the landscape in an American Impressionist style. The colony prospered during the American Regional Art Movement (1920s-1940s) and fueled economic development of the region. In response to increased demand for their work, the artists and local partners established the Brown County Art Gallery nearby in 1926. In 1954, several of the colony’s original artists founded an additional gallery, the Brown County Art Guild.