Did I show you these before? If so, I apologize. And if not, here they are.
Two buildings from the Norristown Farm Park/Norristown State Hospital. You may remember we often walk in this park, which is the former farm associated with the adjacent state mental hospital. (If you want to see related posts, look on my personal blog, Sometimes You Get So Confused, and search under Norristown .)
In the past, it was thought beneficial for patients to do healthy outdoor work, if they were able. After that practice changed in the 1970’s the farm became a county park (though it is still farmed by contract farmers) and the hospital is in the process of shutting down, though there are still a few patients and many shuttered buildings on the site.
I’ve written many posts on these sites and I’ve done a lot of artworks related to them as well. Here are two drawings.
Getty Cottage is a building near the Farm Park’s entrance dating, I think, from before the land was used by the hospital. I like its simple look.
The power house for the hospital is located some distance from Getty Cottage on the border of the hospital/farm park grounds. For some reason I am fascinated by its austere functional appearance.
I did these drawings in my 8″ x 8″ page sketchbook in May, 2020.
and here is the drawing:
Claudia McGill and Her Art World 
I love these!
Thank you. I really like going to this park and I have seen these buildings a lot of times – I enjoyed drawing them as now I feel I know them really well, in a way a photo does not make happen.
Well even if you did show them before I do enjoy seeing them.
Thanks, I feel like these came out in a way that I wanted them to (as you know does not always or maybe even often happen!)
Can’t get enough of the melancholy and abandoned – seems to fit with our times at the moment.
Yes, I have thought about going over to the hospital grounds and drawing some of those buildings, for this reason. There is a lot of history and emotion in this area the park and hospital occupy.
Can you see into the Getty cottage or is it all locked up? As simple as it is there is also something fascinating about it.
No, it’s boarded up, but in fairly good repair as I think they use it for something, or did. There are several similar buildings around the park, remnants of its past, either from mental hospital days or before, and are typical PA construction for their eras. I also feel it is a fascinating building and I don’t know why I think so. Here is a post of another house at the park: https://claudiamcgillart.wordpress.com/2020/04/01/house-at-norristown-farm-park/ .