COMING UP NEXT ON "ART ROCKS."

REMEMBERING LOUISIANA FOLK ARTIST CLEMENTINE HUNTER.

SHE WAS VERY NICE AND EACH DAY, SHE WAS LIKE A LITTLE CHILD.

SHE WOULD BRING HER WORK AND LET ME TAKE A LOOK AT IT.

WHAT SHE PAINTED, HER SUBJECTS, IT WAS BASED ON LIFE EXPERIENCES.

A HANDS-ON MUSICAL EDUCATION.

THE CHILDREN APPRECIATE BEING ABLE TO TOUCH THESE THINGS BECAUSE SO OFTEN, IT'S DON'T TOUCH.

AND A 19th CENTURY ARCHITECTURAL GEM.

HISTORIC NEW ENGLAND HAS IMPROVED THE HOME AND THE ESTATE.

THOSE STORIES, UP NEXT ON "ART ROCKS"!

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪ [ "ART ROCKS" THEME ] ♪ "ART ROCKS" IS MADE POSSIBLE BY THE FOUNDATION FOR EXCELLENCE IN LOUISIANA PUBLIC BROADCASTING, AND BY VIEWERS LIKE YOU.

HELLO, I'M JAMES FOX SMITH, PUBLISHER OF "COUNTRY ROADS MAGAZINE."

AND YOUR HOST FOR ANOTHER EDITION OF "ART ROCKS."

PERHAPS LOUISIANA HAS PERHAPS HAD MORE THAN ITS SHARE OF BOTH VISUAL AND PERFORMING ARTISTS TO GARNER NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL ATTENTION.

SOMETIMES, THE SPOTLIGHT HAS SHONE ON ARTISTS FROM THE LEAST LIKELY PLACES.

SUCH WAS THE CASE FOR THE LATE CLEMENTINE HUNTER.

A FIELD HAND, AND THEN A COOK ON MELROSE PLANTATION NEAR NATCHITOUCHES BEFORE SHE BECAME RECOGNIZED NATIONALLY FOR HER ART.

FINE ARTIST AND FORMER EDUCATOR MORRIS TAFT THOMAS HAS LONG HAD A PROFOUND INTEREST IN MS. HUNTER'S ART AND HER LIFESTYLE.

LET'S LISTEN.

♪♪ ♪♪ MELROSE PLANTATION WAS A MECCA FOR ARTISTS AND WRITERS.

THEY WOULD COME FROM ALL OVER THE STATE, ALL OVER THE COUNTRY TO VISIT THIS PLANATION BECAUSE IT WAS VERY UNIQUE AND VERY SPECIAL.

DURING HER SPARE TIME, MS. HUNTER WOULD ACTUALLY STAND AND WATCH THE PEOPLE PAINT.

FRANCOIS MIGNON, HE WAS THE PRIMARY INDIVIDUAL WHO KIND OF INNOVATED HER AND MOTIVATED HER TO START PAINTING.

MIGNON WAS A FRENCHMAN FROM -- HE CAME TO LOUISIANA AND WENT TO THE PLANTATION.

HE WAS ALSO A WRITER FOR THE LOCAL NEWSPAPER, AND SHE CAUGHT HIS ATTENTION AND SHE HAD THIS BEAUTIFUL ACCENT, CREOLE ACCENT.

AND SHE TOLD HIM, I BET YOU I CAN PAINT IF I WANT TO.

HE SAID, WHAT?

I BET YOU I CAN PAINT IF I WANT TO.

SO HE GAVE HER A WINDOW SHADE AND SOME COLORS THAT WERE LEFT BEHIND BY ONE OF THE ARTISTS.

AND SHE BEGAN TO PAINT AND SHE PAINTED ALL NIGHT UNTIL SHE GOT IT COMPLETE.

SHE SHOWED IT TO HIM THE NEXT DAY AND HE WAS AMAZED.

IT WAS NOT ANYTHING THAT WAS EXCEPTIONAL, BUT IT WAS CREATIVITY THAT SHE CREATED HERSELF.

AND EVERYTHING KIND OF WENT FROM THERE.

ONCE SHE GOT INVOLVED, SHE LOVED IT, SHE NEVER STOPPED WORKING.

SHE WOULD PAINT THE MAGNOLIAS AND ALL THE FLOWERS.

AND WHEN I WAS COOK -- WHEN IT WAS DONE, SHE WOULD GIVE IT TO ME.

SHE WORKED DAY AND NIGHT.

AND EACH DAY, SHE WAS LIKE A LITTLE CHILD, SHE WOULD BRING HER WORK AND LET MIGNON TAKE A LOOK AT IT.

HE ALWAYS PRAISED HER.

HER SUBJECTS WERE BASED ON LIFE EXPERIENCES.

SHE PAINTED THINGS THAT SHE WAS EXPOSED TO AS A YOUNG WOMAN WORKING IN THE COTTON FIELDS.

SHE PAINTED COTTON FIELD SCENES.

SHE PAINTED PECAN HARVESTS, SATURDAY NIGHT FISH FRIES, AND ALL THOSE THINGS.

SHE WAS ALSO A RELIGIOUS PERSON.

AND ONE OF THE MOST FASCINATING THINGS THAT MRS. HUNTER PAINTED WAS THE CRUCIFIX OF CHRIST.

IN THE AFRICA HOUSE UPSTAIRS, IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL MURAL.

IT WAS ABOUT SIX FEET TALL AT LEAST.

I WAS AMAZED BECAUSE SHE WAS UP IN AGE WHEN SHE STARTED PAINTING, LATE 70s AND 80s WHEN SHE REALLY KIND OF BLOSSOMED.

AT THAT TIME, EVERYONE CALLED HER A PRIMITIVE ARTIST.

I WOULD SAY FOLK ART.

I DON'T LIKE THE WORD, THE TERMINOLOGY, I KNOW THE ADJECTIVES ARE VERY SIMILAR.

I DON'T LIKE THE WORD PRIMITIVE.

SHE WAS NOT PRIMITIVE.

I THINK THE TERMINOLOGY CAME ABOUT BECAUSE THERE WAS CONTINUITY WITH HER ART.

NO THE PERSPECTIVE WAS OFF, AND SO AS AN ARTIST, THEY LOOKED AT THAT AND SAID SHE'S PRIMITIVE, SHE'S NOT A SKILLED INDIVIDUAL.

AND SO THAT PART IS TRUE.

SHE WAS KIND OF SELF-TAUGHT.

AND SO WHAT SHE DID WAS FROM THE HEART, WHAT SHE FELT.

THAT'S WHAT SHE REFLECTED IN HER WORK.

SO WHEN I BEGAN TO WRITE ARTICLES ABOUT THE LIFE OF MRS. HUNTER, I SAID I DON'T LIKE THE WORD PRIMITIVE.

SHE'S NOT PRIMITIVE.

IT REFLECTED HER LIFE, HOW SHE SAW THINGS.

SO WHEN SHE SAW SOMEONE STANDING UNDER A PECAN TREE, AND THE PECANS WERE FALLING OUT OF THE TREE, THEY WERE WAITING TO CATCH THE PECANS.

I SAID, THERE IS NOTHING WRONG ABOUT THAT.

EVEN TODAY IN MODERN DAY SOCIETY, WHEN YOU FIND SOMEONE MAY GET A STICK AND THROW IT UP AND KNOCK SOME PECANS DOWN, THEY ARE WAITING TO CATCH THEM.

THAT'S THE SAME SCENARIO.

FRANCOIS MIGNON STARTED WRITING ABOUT HER AND THERE WAS A LOT OF CURIOSITY BECAUSE THE NEWSPAPER WENT ALL OVER THE STATE.

IT WAS ASSOCIATED PRESS, AS WELL.

AND SO SHE BECAME A HOUSEHOLD NAME FOR SOMETHING FOR SOMEONE TO READ.

WHEN SHE BECAME FATIGUED, SHE WOULD ASK HER GRANDSON WHO WAS ABOUT 12 YEARS OLD AT THE TIME, YOU FINISH THIS PAINTING FOR ME.

AND HE DID.

THE DIFFERENCE IN BEING ABLE TO RECOGNIZE MRS. HUNTER'S ORIGINAL WORK: SHE PAINTED USING OIL PAINT BASICALLY, OUT OF THE TUBE, WITHOUT MIXING COLORS.

SHE JUST PUT ONE COLOR, HEAVY IMPASTO.

SHE WOULD PUT ONE HEAVY STROKE ON TOP OF THE OTHER STROKE, AND THAT'S IT.

BUT HER GRANDSON, WHO HAD A LITTLE ART EXPERIENCE IN SCHOOL, HE WOULD MIX HIS COLORS AND BLEND THEM IN.

AND THE COLORS WOULD VARY IN TERMS OF WARM COLORS AND COOL COLORS, HE COULD DO THAT.

BUT YOU HAD TO HAVE SOME SIMILARITY BETWEEN WHAT HE DID AND WHAT GRANDMOTHER DID.

THAT'S THE WAY YOU CAN DISTINGUISH THE DIFFERENCE.

HER BRUSHSTROKES WERE ALWAYS THE SAME BECAUSE SHE DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO CHANGE THEM: VERY SIMPLE, ONE OR TWO STROKES AND THAT WAS BASICALLY IT.

EVEN IF YOU ATTEMPTED TO COPY HER WORK, IT WAS DIFFICULT, BECAUSE YOU HAD TO LOOK AT THEM REAL CLOSE TO TRY TO GET THE BRUSHSTROKES.

AND HER BRUSHSTROKES WERE WAVY BECAUSE OF HER NERVOUS CONDITION.

AND SO HER STROKES WERE NOT PERFECT.

THEY HAD A LOT OF MOVEMENT IN THEM, RHYTHM.

I CALL IT RHYTHMIC MOVEMENT.

THAT'S ANOTHER WAY OF BEING ABLE TO RECOGNIZE.

OTHERWISE, HER GRANDSON, HE HAD STRAIGHT LINES, VERTICAL LINES, HORIZONTAL LINES, AND IT WAS VERY EASY TO SAY MRS. HUNTER DIDN'T PAINT THIS.

BUT THEY DIDN'T KNOW THIS AND THEY DIDN'T REALLY CARE.

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO THEM WAS THE C AND THE H, HER SIGNATURE.

ONCE HER SIGNATURE WAS ON SOMETHING, THAT'S ALL THEY WANTED.

SHE COULD HAVE COMMANDED ANY PRICE SHE WANTED TO BUT, SHE DIDN'T KNOW HOW.

SHE COULDN'T WRITE.

FRANCOIS MIGNON SAID, HE CALLED HER, CLEMENTINE, YOU NEED TO LEARN HOW TO WRITE YOUR NAME.

I DON'T KNOW HOW TO WRITE MY NAME.

HE SAID, LET'S DO THE C AND THE H. SHE SAID OKAY.

SHE PRACTICED AND SHE PRACTICED AND SHE PRACTICED.

BUT IF YOU NOTICE IN ALL OF HER WORK, THE C IS REVERSED.

SHE SAID I WANT TO DO THIS.

IT LOOKS LIKE I HAVE MY ARMS OPENED, MEETING AND GREETING PEOPLE.

SO I'M GOING TO MAKE MY C LIKE THIS.

AND I AM GOING TO CLOSE IT WITH MY H. THAT'S HOW THAT CAME ABOUT.

INDIVIDUALS FROM ACADEMIANS TO MULTIMILLIONAIRES HAVE HER WORK IN THEIR COLLECTIONS.

THAT'S ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS YOU WANT TO GET.

I WANT A CLEMENTINE HUNTER, NOT ONLY BECAUSE OF THE SIMPLICITY, BUT BECAUSE OF THE SPIRITUAL WAY IN WHICH SHE APPROACHED THE SUBJECT.

THEY MAY BE ABLE TO RELATE TO THEIR OWN EXPERIENCES IN GROWING UP.

THEIR PARENTS MAY HAVE OWNED A PLANTATION, OR THEY VISITED A PLANTATION AND SO THERE IS A LOT OF SIMILARITY IN WHAT SHE HAS PROJECTED, THAT THEY CAN GO BACK AND RECALL AND SAY THIS BRINGS BACK OLD MEMORIES FOR ME.

YOU CAN FIND CLEMENTINE HUNTERS WORK PRACTICALLY IN EVERY STATE IN AMERICA, EVERY MAJOR MUSEUM WANTS SOME OF HER WORK IN THEM.

AND THEY HAVE COLLECTED HER WORK.

SOME OF THEM HAVE VERIFIED THE FACT THAT THEY ARE AUTHENTIC.

SOME OF THEM HAVE NOT VERIFIED THE FACT THAT THEY ARE NOT AUTHENTIC.

THEY HAVE THEM ON EXHIBITION ANYWAY.

I STARTED VISITING MRS. HUNTER AND I WOULD STOP BY EARLY IN THE MORNING, GO INTO CLASS, ON MY WAY BACK TO ALEXANDRIA AND DURING MY VISITS, THERE WERE PEOPLE WHO CAME IN DROVES, PEOPLE FROM ALL OVER THE COUNTRY.

FROM NEW YORK, CHICAGO, WASHINGTON, D.C., JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI; ALEXANDRIA, BATON ROUGE, SHREVEPORT.

JUST ABOUT EVERYWHERE YOU CAN NAME, THEY CAME.

THE KIDS CAME.

THEY WANTED TO SEE HER, MEET HER, TAKE PICTURES WITH HER.

BUT THEY ALSO WANTED TO PURCHASE HER WORK.

MRS. HUNTER DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO CHARGE THEM FOR THE WORK.

THEY FOUND THIS OUT REAL QUICK.

SOME SAID, I WILL GIVE YOU $10 FOR THAT.

AND SHE'D SAY OKAY.

THEY WOULD GIVE HER $10.

THEY WOULD TAKE THE PAINTING AND THEY WOULD TAKE OFF.

I FOUND THAT A NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO CAME TO SEE MRS. HUNTER DID NOT PAY HER MONETARILY.

THEY BROUGHT HER OBJECTS, CATS, DOGS, YOU NAME IT, THEY BROUGHT IT AND GAVE THOSE TO HER IN PLACE OF A PAINTING.

SHE DID NOT KNOW FINANCIALLY HOW MUCH SHE WAS ACTUALLY WORTH.

THIS GUEST BOOK IS APPROXIMATELY 35 OR 40 YEARS OF AGE.

YOU CAN SEE THE WATERMARKS ON HERE BECAUSE I HAD IT IN A VAULT.

THIS BELONGED TO MRS. CLEMENTINE HUNTER.

SOME OF THE INDIVIDUALS WHO CAME TO PURCHASE ONE OF HER WORKS SAID YOU NEED A BOOK TO SIGN.

THEY GAVE HER THIS.

THE FIRST PERSON WHO SIGNED THIS WAS FROM THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTE IN WASHINGTON, DC.

AND THE LIST GOES ON AND ON.

THERE ARE PEOPLE FROM ACROSS AMERICA WHO SIGNED THIS BOOK.

IT'S A VALUABLE DOCUMENT.

IT SHOULD NOT BE LYING AROUND.

MRS. HUNTER ALSO HAD HER C REVERSED AND H IN THERE.

I STOOD THERE AND WATCHED HER DO THAT.

I SAID, IF I'M GOING TO TAKE THIS HOME, YOU HAD BETTER SIGN THIS THING.

AND I'LL KEEP IT FOR YOU.

I THINK HER WORK IS ALMOST LIKE EVERLASTING.

THERE IS A UNIQUE QUALITY ABOUT HER, NOT ONLY A SIMPLICITY, BUT THE TYPE OF LIFE SHE LIVED.

SHE DIDN'T ACHIEVE HER LIFESTYLE BECAUSE OF THE LACK OF WEALTH.

SHE CHANGED HER LIFESTYLE BECAUSE SHE WAS FORCED TO.

MODERN DAY SOCIETY FORCED HERE O MAKE CHANGES AND SHE WAS VERY UNCOMFORTABLE WITH THAT AND SHE WAS UNHAPPY WITH THAT.

WHEN SHE HAD A CHANCE, SHE SPENT A LOT OF TIMES OUTDOORS ON THE PORCH, ROCKING ON THE ROCKING CHAIR.

IF NOT, SHE WAS OUTSIDE WITH HER PIGS, WITH HER CHICKENS, WITH THE DOGS, THE THINGS THAT SHE LOVED GROWING UP AS A YOUNG WOMAN.

THEY STILL HAD SOME RELEVANCE AND THAT MADE HER FEEL COMFORTABLE.

SHE DIDN'T USE A BANK.

SHE USED A SYRUP CAN THAT SHE WOULD TAKE AND PUT IT UNDER HER BED.

AND I KNEW THAT BECAUSE SHE SHOWED ME WHERE SHE KEPT HER LITTLE CHANGE.

BUT IT WAS VERY MEAGER, IT WAS NOTHING THAT YOU COULD TALK ABOUT, NOTHING TO TAKE TO A BANK.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ RESEARCH PROVES IT.

ART AND THE CREATIVE PROCESS ADDS SO MUCH TO OUR LIVES.

SO DON'T MISS OUT.

HERE ARE SOME TIPS FOR NOTABLE EXHIBITS BROUGHT TO LIFE IN PERSON AND ONLINE AT MUSEUMS AND GALLERIES ON OUR SIDE OF THE WORLD.

♪♪ ♪♪ FOR MORE ABOUT THESE AND MANY MORE EVENTS IN THE ARTS, VISIT WWW.LPB.ORG/ARTROCKS AND WHILE YOU'RE THERE, YOU'LL FIND LINKS TO EVERY EPISODE OF THIS PROGRAM, SO TO SEE OR TO SHARE ANY SEGMENT AGAIN, VISIT WWW.LPB.ORG/ARTROCKS.

THE WISCONSIN PHILHARMONIC HAS BEEN DELIGHTING AUDIENCES WITH THEIR MUSICAL CONCERTS AND EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCES FOR SCHOOLCHILDREN FOR MORE THAN 70 YEARS.

WE LOOK IN ON THEIR ANNUAL FAMILY CONCERT.

IT SHOWCASES THE WAY MUSIC PAINTS A PICTURE THROUGH A HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE WITH MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

♪ [ OVERTURE TO PEER GYNT ] ♪ MUSIC PAINTS A PICTURE, BUT IT PAINTS A PICTURE IN TONES THAT WE, AS PEOPLE, THEN INTERPRET IN OUR OWN MINDS.

THAT IT IS REALLY FROM THE HEART TO THE HEART VIA THIS LANGUAGE OF SOUND.

THE WISCONSIN PHILHARMONIC BEGAN ALMOST 70 YEARS AGO.

WE WERE FOUNDED IN 1947 AS THE WAUKESHA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, AS WE'RE BASED HERE IN WAUKESHA COUNTY.

IT WAS ACTUALLY A GIFT TO THE COMMUNITY BY THE PRESIDENT OF WHAT WAS THEN CARROLL COLLEGE, WHO THOUGHT THAT A LIVE, CLASSICAL MUSIC ORCHESTRA WOULD BE A GOOD EDITION TO NOT ONLY THE COLLEGE BUT TO THE COMMUNITY.

AS THINGS HAVE PROGRESSED, OUR AUDIENCE AND OUR MUSICIANS COME FROM A WIDE SWATH OF SOUTHEASTERN WISCONSIN.

SO WE, SEVERAL YEARS AGO, DECIDED TO CHANGE THE NAME TO WISCONSIN PHILHARMONIC BECAUSE WE'RE ALL PART OF THIS SOUTHEASTERN WISCONSIN, GREATER MILWAUKEE AREA.

AND ONE OF THE GREAT THINGS ABOUT THE WISCONSIN PHILHARMONIC IS THAT WE CREATE CONCERTS IN WHICH WE ARE EVERYTHING FROM A SMALL GROUP OF, SAY, A COUPLE DOZEN MUSICIANS PLAYING IN A BEAUTIFUL, HISTORIC, INTIMATE SPACE, OR AS TODAY, WE'RE JUST UNDER ABOUT 100 MUSICIANS ON STAGE.

SO ONE OF THE BEAUTIFUL THINGS ABOUT THE PHILHARMONIC IS ITS FLEXIBILITY.

WE PLAY FIVE OFFICIAL SEASON CONCERTS, AND THEN TWO YEARS AGO, WE ADDED THE FAMILY CONCERT.

WE WERE THINKING OF WAYS TO BUILD THE AUDIENCE OF THE FUTURE.

WE REALIZED IT WAS LONG OVERDUE, BUT THE PHILHARMONIC PRESENTS A TRUE FAMILY CONCERT, A CONCERT INTENDED FOR FAMILIES, INTENDED FOR YOUNG AUDIENCES IN WHICH PEOPLE CAN JUST LEARN ABOUT THE BASIC RUDIMENTS OF THIS GLORIOUS THING THAT WE CALL "CLASSICAL MUSIC."

PLAYING SIDE BY SIDE WITH OUR SUNDAY PROFESSIONALS.

THIS PAST 2014-2015 SEASON OF THE PHILHARMONIC WAS DEVOTED TO THE MUSIC OF SCANDINAVIA.

FOR OUR ANNUAL FAMILY CONCERTS, WHAT BETTER MUSIC TO PERFORM THAN SOME OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL MOMENTS.

THE PEER GYNT SUITES.

WE'RE PLAYING THESE WONDERFUL SHORT WORKS THAT GRIEG WROTE FOR PEER GYNT, IN THE CONTEXT OF A NARRATION, WHICH IS BASED ON THE THEME, ON THE IDEA THAT MUSIC CAN PAINT A PICTURE.

WE PRECEDE THE CONCERT WITH THE INSTRUMENT PETTING ZOO.

AND THAT IS THE OPPORTUNITY FOR YOUNG CHILDREN TO EXPERIENCE ALL MANNER OF INSTRUMENTS.

YOU KNOW, BLOW THE HORN, PLAY THE VIOLIN, HAVE FUN EXPERIENCING INSTRUMENTS THAT THE CHILDREN APPRECIATE BEING ALLOWED TO TOUCH THESE THINGS, BECAUSE SO OFTEN IT'S "DON'T TOUCH."

BUT THEY LOVE BEING ABLE TO TOUCH THAT.

I'M LOOKING FOR A COLLECTIVE EXPRESSION.

I'M LOOKING FOR ALL THE MEMBERS OF THE ORCHESTRA TO EXPRESS THEMSELVES THROUGH THE MUSIC AS INDIVIDUALS, BUT IN A WAY THAT'S HARMONIOUS, IN A WAY THAT'S PART OF THE WHOLE.

AND THAT'S WHERE PLAYING CLASSICAL MUSIC, THAT'S WHERE PERFORMING AND LISTENING TO SYMPHONY ORC CENTERS REALLY IS THE SCHOOL FOR LIFE BECAUSE A SUCCESSFUL ORCHESTRA IS TRULY A COLLECTION OF SUCCESSFUL INDIVIDUALS WHO, AT ONCE, ACT AS LEADERS AND ALSO, ACT AS MEMBERS OF A TEAM.

MY FAVORITE PART OF BEING A MUSIC DIRECTOR OF THIS GROUP IS CREATING SOMETHING SPECIAL IN THE PERFORMANCE.

THOSE MOMENTS IN THE MUSIC THAT YOU NEVER EXPECTED WOULD HAPPEN, BUT AGAIN, THROUGH THE GENIUS OF THE CREATIVITY OF ALL THE INDIVIDUALS IN FRONT OF YOU PLAYING TOGETHER, SUDDENLY JUST COME ALIVE.

SUDDENLY JUST HAPPEN.

THAT IS FOR THOSE MOMENTS THAT I'M A MUSIC DIRECTOR.

THE FEEDBACK HAS BEEN TERRIFIC BECAUSE IT'S OPENED UP A WHOLE WORLD THAT THESE CHILDREN MIGHT NOT HAVE BEEN EXPOSED TO AND THE PARENTS, EITHER.

CLASSICAL MUSIC IS A TREASURE.

IT'S NOT SOMETHING TO BE AFRAID OF, BUT ALSO, FEELING THAT THIS IS A WONDERFUL AVENUE FOR THEIR CHILDREN TO KNOW AND EXPERIENCE AND HOPEFULLY BECOME THE AUDIENCE OF THE FUTURE.

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST, THE BASSOON.

♪♪ ♪♪ MUSIC IS ONE OF THE MIRACLES OF HUMANITY.

THE WAY THAT ONE PERSON CREATE, CAN CREATE A GREAT WORK OF MUSIC, AND THEN SHARE THAT CREATION.

IN A WAY THAT THAT CAN JUST HAPPEN IN THE CONTEXT OF A LIVE PERFORMANCE, THAT IS CREATED, IT HAPPENS, AND THEN IT'S OVER, AND IN A SENSE IT'S GONE FOREVER.

THAT ESSENTIAL MYSTERY IS WHAT I WOULD WANT EVERY CONCERTGOER TO COME AWAY WITH AT EVERY CONCERT THAT THEY ATTEND.

[APPLAUSE] THE EUSTIS MANSION IN MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS, IS GOING THROUGH A PAINSTAKING RENOVATION ALMOST 150 YEARS AFTER THIS ARCHITECTURAL TREASURE WAS BUILT.

WHEN THE HOUSE WAS CONSTRUCTED IN THE 1880s, IT WAS STATE-OF-THE-ART WITH NO EXPENSE SPARED.

LET'S TAKE A TOUR.

THIS IS AS CLOSE TO AMERICA'S LANDED GENTRY AS ONE CAN GET.

A BIG COUNTRY ESTATE.

WIDE OPEN SPACES, THE ROLLING BLUE HILLS BEHIND US.

SO IT WAS REALLY A SORT OF IDYLLIC SPACE TO BE.

FOR 140 YEARS, THIS HAS BEEN THE GRAND HOUSE ON THE HILL IN MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS, AN 18,500 SQUARE FOOT HOME ENVELOPED IN GREEN.

FOR NEARLY ALL THAT TIME, IT'S BEEN THE PRIDE AND JOY OF THE EUSTIS FAMILY, STARTING WITH NEWLYWEDS W.E.C.

AND EDITH.

THEY WERE IN THEIR 20s WHEN HER PARENTS BUILT THE HOME AS A WEDDING PRESENT.

THEIR TWIN SONS WERE BORN IN 1877 AND THEY MOVED IN HERE ABOUT 1879.

SO JUST A YOUNG FAMILY OF FOUR LIVING IN THIS MAGNIFICENT, HUGE HOUSE AS THEIR STARTER HOME.

THE EUSTISES WERE VERY EARLY PRACTITIONERS OF SUSTAINABLE LIVING.

IN ITS EARLIEST DAYS, THE HOME WAS RUN AS A GENTLEMAN'S FARM.

THEY ONLY PURCHASED, FISH AND A FEW OTHER THINGS OUTSIDE OF THEIR ESTATE.

THEY WANTED TO GROW EVERYTHING HERE, AND TRULY LIVE OFF OF THEIR OWN RESOURCES AS BEST THEY COULD.

ELYSE WERLING IS A CURATORIAL ASSISTANT WITH HISTORIC NEW ENGLAND, WHICH PURCHASED THE HOME IN 2012 WITH AN EYE TOWARD PRESERVATION.

UNTIL THEN, THE PROPERTY HAD ALWAYS REMAINED IN THE EUSTIS FAMILY.

DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE PART OF THE PROPERTY?

WELL, INSIDE THE HOUSE, THE PARLOR IS MY FAVORITE ROOM.

IT'S A REALLY NICE, WARM ROOM.

HISTORIC NEW ENGLAND HAS SPENT THE LAST FIVE YEARS AND MORE THAN $5 MILLION RESTORING AND IMPROVING THE HOME AND ESTATE WHICH HAD BEEN BUILT WITH ESSENTIALLY NO EXPENSE SPARED.

THEY WENT FOR THE HIGH END, AND THE MOST WELL-KNOWN ARTISANS AND THE MOST CONNECTED ARTISANS.

THERE'S RICHLY CARVED WOODWORK WITH LOTS OF ORGANIC MOTIFS CARVED THROUGHOUT.

YOU'LL SEE, ACORNS, AND GRAPES, AND VINES, AND BIRDS, ALL IN THE CARVINGS.

EVERYWHERE YOU LOOK, THERE'S SOMETHING FLORAL.

EVEN THE STAINED-GLASS WINDOWS ARE ANOTHER GREAT EXAMPLE OF THAT.

THE MANSION WAS DESIGNED BY WILLIAM RALPH EMERSON, A STARCHITECT FAVORED BY BOSTON BRAHMIN TYPES.

HISTORIC NEW ENGLAND'S PETER GITTLEMAN SAYS THE HOME IS A RARE, SURVIVING EXAMPLE OF THE VICTORIAN ERA'S AESTHETIC MOVEMENT THAT SWEPT THROUGH THE UNITED STATES.

ITS RALLYING CRY WAS ART FOR ART'S SAKE.

AND WHAT THAT REALLY IS, IS SAYING IS THAT THERE IS VALUE IN ART IT SIMPLY WAS A LOVE OF, DEEP, SATURATED COLORS, PATTERNS THROUGHOUT.

A TEAM OF RESTORATION ARTISTS METHODICALLY WORKED THEIR WAY THROUGH THE MANSION, RESTORING FIXTURES, REMOVING LAYERS OF PAINT, AND RESTORING ORIGINAL COLORS LIKE THE DINING ROOM WHICH FEATURES GREEN WALLS FLECKED WITH HINTS OF GOLD.

HOW EXTENSIVE WAS THE RESTORATION EFFORT HERE?

PROBABLY THE LARGEST ASPEC S OF THE RESTORATION WAS THE PAINTWORK THAT WE DID BECAUSE OUR GOAL WAS TO TRY TO BRING THE PAINT COLORS BACK TO THE WAY THEY WERE IN THE 1870s AND EARLY 1880s WHEN THEY WERE FIRST DONE.

THE MANSION WAS STATE-OF-THE-ART WITH AN ELEVATOR, A HIGH-END KITCHEN, INCLUDING THIS STOVE WHICH HAS ALWAYS REMAINED, AND THESE, SPEAKING TUBES.

BEFORE ELECTRICITY, SPEAKING TUBES IS HOW YOU BASICALLY COMMUNICATED WITH YOUR SERVANTS.

ONE END OF THE TUBE YOU WOULD BLOW INTO AND IT WOULD PRODUCE A WHISTLE WHICH WOULD ALERT A SERVANT TO COME OVER TO THE TUBE THAT ENDED IN THE KITCHEN AND THEN THE PERSON CALLING WOULD BASICALLY SPEAK THROUGH THE TUBE AND YOU COULD PICK UP WHAT THEY WERE SAYING.

SO ONE STEP UP FROM CANS AND STRING IT SOUNDS LIKE?

IT IS, AND IT WAS, BETTER THAN YELLING DOWN THE STAIRCASE, WHICH IS ONE OF THE THINGS THAT VICTORIAN HOUSEHOLDS ABSOLUTELY INSISTED ON.

YOU SIMPLY COULD NOT BELLOW THROUGH THE HOUSE.

WITH THE EXCEPTION OF JUST A COUPLE ROOMS, INCLUDING THE DINING ROOM AND THE MASTER BEDROOM FURNISHED JUST AS THE EUSTISES DESIGNED THEM, THE HOME IS NOW FILLED WITH LESS PRECIOUS PERIOD-APPROPRIATE FURNITURE.

VISITORS CAN WALK THROUGHOUT THE HOME WITHOUT A GUIDE AND EVEN SIT DOWN IN ROOMS LIKE THEY OWN THE PLACE.

IT'S AN OPPORTUNITY FOR PEOPLE TO HAVE A HISTORIC HOUSE EXPERIENCE THAT THEY REALLY WANT, NOT THE ONE THAT WE ARE FORCING THEM TO HAVE.

AND ONE THAT GIVES AN EVEN STRONGER IMPRESSION OF HOUSE BEAUTIFUL.

AND THAT IS THAT FOR THIS EDITION OF "ART ROCKS."

BUT REMEMBER, YOU CAN ALWAYS WATCH EPISODES OF THE SHOW AT WWW.LPB.ORG/ARTROCKS, AND MEANWHILE, "COUNTRY ROADS MAGAZINE" IS A GREAT RESOURCE FOR FINDING OUT WHAT'S GOING ON IN YOUR CULTURE ACROSS THE BAYOU STATE.

SO UNTIL NEXT TIME, I'M JAMES FOX-SMITH AND THANK YOU FOR WATCHING.

"ART ROCKS" IS MADE POSSIBLE BY THE FOUNDATION FOR EXCELLENCE IN LOUISIANA PUBLIC BROADCASTING.

AND BY VIEWERS LIKE YOU.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪