His inspiration for the vibrant images he created remains evident throughout the Burchfield Homestead Museum and now that space is featured in a book titled “Guide to Historic Artists’ Homes & Studios: A Program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.”

For the Burchfield Homestead Society, inclusion of Burchfield’s boyhood home in a book of such national prominence could yield good results. Sara Baer, the new president of the Burchfield Homestead Society, said they’re expecting more visitors to make the trip to Salem.

“We know that being an artist’s home and studio location draws tourists and artists alike who thrive off of the vibe of the property and surrounding neighborhood,” she said.

The Burchfield museum is one of 44 sites included in the book written by Valerie A. Balint, the program manager of the Historic Artists’ Homes and Studios, a network created 20 years ago by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The network includes the preserved homes and studios of American artists that are featured in the guide book. Other great American artists represented include Winslow Homer, Edward Hopper, Jackson Pollock, Thomas Cole, Grant Wood and the Wyeths, N.C. and Andrew.

This is a drawing artist Charles Burchfield created showing the Egypt Road area where he used to walk and camp, including a spot where there used to be a covered bridge on the now closed section of East Pine Lake Road. (Salem News photo by Mary Ann Greier)

One of the unique features of the Burchfield home is its origin for so many of the artist’s early works, including his golden year in 1917 when he produced some 400 works that formed the basis for a lifetime of art, Baer explained.

Visitors can see some of the locales with their own eyes, some

looking very similar to how they appeared through Burchfield’s eyes over 100 years ago.

Salem resident Cheryl Mattevi, who’s been caring for the gardens at the museum for many years and was recently appointed acting curator, said Balint consulted with the Burchfield Homestead Society and sent a draft of what she wrote about Charlie so they could check for accuracy and facts.

Mattevi said she captured what they’ve always stressed, the connection between the artist and the neighborhood. In her introduction for the book, Balint notes “that artists’ homes’ reveal not only an artist’s process, but what in the environment inspired it,” Burchfield Homestead Society member Madeline Patton Shivers wrote in a press release.

The Pearce Foundation donated a grant so the museum group could hire Salem-based professional photographer Nick Cool to create photographs of the interior and exterior of home. The photos can be seen at https://www.burchfieldhomestead.com.

The recently-released book can be purchased at Amazon.com or through the publisher Princeton Architectural Press (papress.com). The Henry Luce Foundation and the Wyeth Foundation for American Art provided support for the book.

Mattevi said they’re happy with the national recognition.

She talked about the importance of Burchfield’s life in Salem and how it formed the basis of his imagination and memories. She said “he wasn’t splashy, but prolific, producing art that makes you think about things, think about your senses and appreciating the world.”

Mattevi stopped at the museum during it’s first open house many years ago and spoke with the late Sharon Medford, who told her about plans to follow Charlie’s list for the garden, which included not only the types of wildflowers but where he dug them up. They traveled to some of those same spots along Egypt Road to secure wildflowers now in his boyhood backyard.

“He had the garden full of life and it is still, full of life like Charlie would have liked it,” Mattevi said.

She knew both Dick Wootten, the museum’s original curator who helped save the home for preservation, and Janis Yereb, who followed in his footsteps and had always been involved. Both passed away in recent years.

Mattevi is making a few tweaks here and there in the displays, bringing more furniture in to make it more homey, including a chair in the doorway between the front room and the middle room. A woman seated in a similar chair in the same spot is prominent in the Burchfield painting “Portrait Study In A Doorway.”

Another new display features the Fourth Street school where Burchfield attended. A photograph shows the three trees shown in several of his paintings and includes the tower of the Fourth Street school. There’s also a display about the Egypt Road swamp area, including a map of the area drawn by Burchfield showing some of his favorite spots where he walked and camped. The painting “Fireflies & Lightning” is reminiscent of one such camping trip to the swamp when he want “frogging” according to his journal.

The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. today as part of Salem Second Saturday’s pARTy! focus on art. Normal hours are 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday through October or by appointment.

The Salem Historical Society will host children’s activities from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and photos by Josette Theiss and Mixed Media by artist Kristen Llewellyn will be featured at LiB’s on East State Street from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., all part of Salem Second Saturday.

Both Baer and Mattevi said the chimney has been repointed at the Burchfield home and Ron Roberts has been added as a board member.

“We appreciate all of the work of our volunteers and the generous support of our members,” Baer said, noting the importance of preservation. “Without their continued support, we would not to be able to preserve and protect the legacy of Charles Burchfield.”