Bones in Jars

At first glance, Beaver Dam, Wisconsin seems like a place filled with quintessential small-town American charm. The town’s motto is “Life here is good,” and the most famous resident of Beaver Dam is the actor Fred MacMurray, star of such family-friendly fare as My Three Sons and Flubber. However, much like Fred MacMurray’s performance in Double Indemnity, a wholesome exterior can conceal darkness underneath. And in Beaver Dam, one local young artist is bringing gothic horror to his hometown through his storefront, Bones in Jars.

The artist’s name is Wesley Kratz-Gullickson, and his goal with Bones in Jars is not only to provide himself with studio space, but to give people who felt like they didn’t fit in elsewhere the chance to feel safe. After graduating from University of Wisconsin-Superior, Wesley moved back to his hometown, and opened Bones in Jars in October 2023 right in the center of Beaver Dam’s downtown business district.

The store primarily features Kratz-Gullickson’s work, which is a melange of the cute and mundane cut with the arcane and occult. Inspired by classic horror movies and Lovecraftian touches, the artist works in several media, such as cryptid-themed monster masks, jewelry made from bones (in jars), and dioramas with artistic displays of insects. A selection of the work is on display in the storefront itself, amidst antique and furniture stores.

In addition to his own work, the store also includes displays from like minded guest artists, who as the store puts it, have “a flair for the odd and unique.” The goal is to provide a space for local artists so that their work can be displayed and sold closer to home. Kratz-Gullickson also offers classes in town for people who are interested in unusual crafts, such as bug pinning & display, bone jewelry, and owl pellet dissection and display.

Although Bones in Jars would perhaps feel more at home in a larger city, Beaver Dam offers the affordable space and diverse set of shops that has allowed the store to fit in to the larger community, even with an offbeat selection. As for Kratz-Gullickson himself, he seems proud to have brought his vision onto Front Street. As he responded in an interview upon the store’s opening, “I really wanted to create a space where the weirdos could go that I wish we would have had when I was a teenager.”