{{short description|American sculptor}} {{Coord|44|52|10.57|N|92|26|39.97|W|type:landmark_region:US|display=title}}
'''Mollie Jenson''' (1890-1973) was an American sculptor from River Falls, Wisconsin. She was the creator of a series of folk art sculptures known collectively as Mollie Jenson’s Art Exhibit (also known as Mollie Jenson’s Zoo & Museum). Her work is an example of outsider art and vernacular architecture.<ref name="stone">{{cite book|last1=Stone|first1=Lisa|last2=Zanzi|first2=Jim|title=Sacred Spaces and Other Places: A Guide to Grottos and Sculptural Environments in the Upper Midwest|date=1993|publisher=School of the Art Institute of Chicago Press}}</ref>
== Biography == Mollie Nelson was born in 1890, the daughter of a Norwegian farmer. She inherited her father's farm near River Falls, and lived there until 1959. She married Obert Jenson in 1911, and was the mother of six children. Her early artwork consisted of traditional craft items, including hooked rugs, quilts, paintings, horn furniture, and wood carvings.<ref name="stone" />
Jenson completed her first outdoor sculpture, the ten-foot tall ''Dutch Windmill'', in 1940. The ''Windmill'' was constructed of concrete embellished with tile mosaics, topped with electric lights and a blackface lawn jockey. Jenson’s 1941 ''Fireplace'' began as an outdoor hearth made of concrete, limestone, and ceramic pieces. Through continual additions, she expanded the structure into a cavern-like, elaborately decorated covered patio. Her last large-scale work was the ''Horseshoe'', a diorama inspired by the Patriotism Shrine at nearby Dickeyville Grotto. The ''Horseshoe'' consisted of a semi-circular stone wall, decorated with curving concrete spires and deer antlers.<ref name="stone" />
From 1938 to 1959, Jenson also operated a roadside zoo featuring 150 animals, including monkeys, peacocks, a lion, and a retired circus bear.<ref name="stone" />
Following Jenson’s death, family members concerned with the safety of the structures demolished all but the ''Dutch Windmill''.<ref name="stone" />
==See also== *Dickeyville Grotto *Paul Dobberstein *Grandma Prisbrey's Bottle Village
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.mnmuseumofthems.org/Grotto/Jenson1.html Mollie Jenson's Zoo and Museum] - photographs and information from Mollie Jenson's grandson
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Jenson, Mollie}} Category:1890 births Category:1973 deaths Category:People from River Falls, Wisconsin Category:Sculptors from Wisconsin Category:Visionary environments Category:20th-century American sculptors Category:20th-century American women sculptors Category:American outsider artists Category:American women outsider artists