State Historical Society of Iowa Press Release

SHSI's "History for Lunch" lecture series continues next week

Peter Hoehnle discusses "The Amana Landscape"

DES MOINES – The State Historical Society of Iowa’s History for Lunch lecture series continues next week with a discussion of a new photography book about the Amana landscape.

Peter Hoehnle will discuss, “The Amana Landscape,” at noon on Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012, at the State Historical Society of Iowa, 402 Iowa Avenue in Iowa City. The presentation is free and open to the public. Seating is limited. Call 319-335-3911 for more information.

Hoehnle authored the text for “The Amana Landscape,” a book of David Heusinkveld photographs that explores the natural environment surrounding Amana. Hoehnle’s prose focuses on the historical importance of the natural environment to the Amana community. During his presentation, he will talk about the Amana people’s relation to the natural world, the key features of the Amana landscape and Heusinkveld’s work.

Heusinkveld began taking photographs near his Amana home following a car accident that left him with serious disabilities and took the life of his son. The evocative photographs that capture the natural features of 26,000 acres of Amana Society-owned farmland, woodland and waterways have been featured in several area exhibitions and are the subject of the book, published this year by Penfield Books.

Peter Hoehnle is executive director of the Iowa Valley Resource Conservation and Development Council. He is an Amana native who received his Ph.D. in History from Iowa State University and is a frequent contributor to SHSI publications.

David Heusinkveld is a retired special education teacher who lives in Amana with his wife, Carol. Heusinkveld’s mother, Joan Liffring-Zug Bourret, is a well-known Iowa documentary photographer and publisher who donated a vast collection of historical images to SHSI.

 

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The Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs is responsible for developing the state’s interest in the areas of the arts, history and other cultural matters with the advice and assistance from its two divisions: the State Historical Society of Iowa and the Iowa Arts Council. DCA preserves, researches, interprets and promotes an awareness and understanding of local, state and regional history and stimulates and encourages the study and presentation of the performing and fine arts and public interest and participation in them. It implements tourism-related art and history projects as directed by the General Assembly and designs a comprehensive, statewide, long-range plan with the assistance of the Iowa Arts Council to develop the arts in Iowa. More information about DCA is available at www.culturalaffairs.org.