Crown Equipment CEO funds Turrell Skyspace, Aboriginal art museum in Ohio
The head of a global forklift manufacturer is using his private collection to transform a rural Ohio town into a cultural destination, linking regional economic development to global art networks.
James Dicke II, chairman and chief executive of forklift manufacturer Crown Equipment Corporation, is building a major cultural complex in New Bremen, Ohio. The industrial executive will open a Modern Aboriginal Art Museum at the end of this year, followed by a James Turrell Skyspace installation in 2027.
The projects represent a significant private investment in rural cultural infrastructure. Crown Equipment has maintained business operations in Australia for over 60 years, a connection that introduced Dicke II to Indigenous art practices and led him to begin collecting in 2016.
The single-storey, 23,700-sq.-ft museum will house more than 100 paintings and sculptures. It will feature works by artists including Malaluba Gumana, Angelina Pwerle (Ngale), Rammey Ramsey and Doreen Reid Nakamarra, forming one of the largest collections of its kind in North America.
“Aboriginal culture doesn’t have a written language, so they communicate their traditions, stories and heritage from generation to generation,” Dicke II says. “It will be a wonderful opportunity for someone to dig in as much as they like. You can enjoy how fabulous the paintings are. You can also dig a little deeper and know what they’re all about.”
The Skyspace will be built on the 77-acre Kuenning-Dicke Natural Area, a former family farm located far enough from the town of 3,000 people to avoid light pollution. Turrell, a renowned Light and Space artist, has created around 100 such enclosed chambers with retractable roofs since completing his first in Varese, Italy in 1974.
That original 1974 piece, created for Count Giuseppe Panza di Biumo, is now on long-term loan to the Guggenheim. The new Ohio installation will utilise modern engineering to allow the roof to roll back during snow or rain, creating what Dicke II calls “light magic”.
“They’re amazing experiences, and it’s been fascinating to watch how, over the years, they’ve become more sophisticated,” Dicke II says of Turrell's work.
For European investors and corporate observers, the development highlights how industrial family wealth in the US is increasingly deployed to drive regional tourism outside traditional urban centres. By leveraging a globally recognised artist and international Indigenous art, Dicke II is attempting to draw visitors to western Ohio.
“It would be wonderful if New Bremen, Ohio became the Marfa of the Midwest,” Dicke II says. “We aspire to have enough here that’s interesting, that it’s worth the trip.”
The Skyspace will connect to 2.5 miles of existing trails, functioning as a “destination within a destination” alongside the town’s established Bicycle Museum of America.
