09/25/2026
IAM Emery Blagdon
Every work of art carries a story. Explore the artists represented in “Life is an Art: The Collection of Jan Petry” and the lasting impact of their work.
Emery Blagdon did not intend to make art; he intended to heal. Born in 1907 in Nebraska, Blagdon spent most of his life as a farmer, though he eventually left for California. In the 1920s, he returned home and soon after lost both of his parents. This experience in caretaking and the tragedy of losing his parents influenced him to explore alternative healing methods. In the 1950s, Blagdon began building the Healing Machine.
Blagdon’s Healing Machine was an intricate apparatus of metal and wire sculptures built inside a shed on his property. Using needle nose pliers, Blagdon would twist and join metal to create delicate hanging sculptures, adding foil, found objects, and jars of minerals. In operation, the 800-square-foot space would come alive with moving parts, lights, and tinkling sounds. Together, the sculptures, he believed, had healing abilities through their magnetic and kinetic energies. Over the course of 30 years, Blagdon created a wonder inside his rural shed. It eventually numbered more than 600 assemblages and paintings.
Upon his passing in 1986, the shed and everything in it went up for auction. A befriended pharmacist, Dan Dryden, purchased the lot and spent the next 18 years stewarding and cataloging the collection. He sought to find a permanent, protected home for the Healing Machine and eventually connected with the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in 2004, which owns a large number of the works. Now, Blagdon’s work is on display in galleries and museums across the United States.
—Emily Q. Slavin, Intuit Art Museum curatorial fellow
See the work for yourself in “Life is an Art”, on view through March 21, 2027.
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