Q&A with Still Standing Co-Producer Katie Andres
Advocating for Wells Barns has been a passion project for Katie Andres for years. And a major part of her advocacy work took the form of the recently-released documentary Still Standing: The Barns of J.T. Wells & Sons. Along with her production partner Jill Kuchman, Katie worked to bring the story of Wells Barns to a broader audience. After Still Standing was named a 2024 Excellence in Historic Preservation Award winner, we reached out to Katie to hear more about her experience in making the documentary and why she continues to advocate for Wells Barns.
Katie Andres with co-producer Jill Kuchman posing with a promotional poster for Still Standing.
What was the biggest obstacle you had to overcome on this project?
Given that this documentary took nine years from concept to completion, we have faced many significant challenges throughout the course of its production. However, securing production funding was the single biggest challenge we faced as its co-producers.
We are indebted to President Kip Finley, the Board, and members of the Wheatland Historical Association (WHA) for entertaining the idea of becoming our independent production company’s fiscal sponsor. Since Wheatland has the distinction of being the birthplace of J.T. Wells and marks the epicenter of Greater Rochester’s remaining Wells barns, we were confident that the WHA’s mission was closely aligned to the motivations fueling our own efforts in bringing the television documentary to WXXI’s viewing audience.
Formally establishing WHA’s fiscal sponsorship of our documentary enabled us to apply, as independent producers, for grants from Rochester Area Community Foundation and the New York State Council on the Arts that were restricted to nonprofit organizations. Ultimately, WHA’s fiscal sponsorship of our documentary significantly widened our grant pool eligibility, and we are grateful.
We first became aware of the Rochester Area Community Foundation’s Preserving Historical Assets Vitality Grant after missing its deadline. Therefore, we had to wait almost an entire year before its grant cycle re-opened. We are convinced that securing this local grant from the RACF gave us much-needed leverage when it came to establishing the documentary as a viable, partially funded project when applying for a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts.
The two grants we received, financial contributions from family members and friends, along with funds from our own pockets ultimately made this project possible.
Tight budgets necessitated wearing many hats. No job was too small, no person was too important to pitch in and help. We couldn’t have reached the finish line without our tightly-knit, hard-working crew!
Was there an unexpected discovery you made during the project?
We’re not certain that these fall under the category of “unexpected discoveries,” but we have made several interesting observations while filming on-location with our on-camera and off-camera participants.
First, we find it remarkable that a single architectural design appeals to so many people. The barn owners profiled in the documentary represent a diverse community united by a common design. Documenting how these owners have collectively honored the heritage, character, and architectural integrity of their own barns while adapting them in completely different ways has been incredible.
Secondly, having passed several tissue boxes around the set inside the Cobblestone Wedding Barn while filming, and after using our own sleeves to wipe away tears while filming in the field, we can both attest to how these barns evoke deep emotions from the people who care for them.
Aerial view of a Wells Barn that is currently in a state of disrepair. You can see a hole in the roof along the right side of the structure.
In the documentary, Nathan Ruekberg speaks openly about the financial and emotional weight of maintaining his Wells barn. Behind-the-scenes, we cried alongside the young owner of the barn with the holes in its roof – a barn she has loved since childhood – as she signed her location release, allowing our cameras to film. She shared with us how difficult it was for her to reveal the barn’s deterioration to documentary viewers. However, she was determined to offer it up as a “visual sacrifice” – an example of a barn in need to help illustrate the plight of many Wells barns in the region. We left her property that day with heavy hearts, determined to finish our documentary as a means to further our advocacy efforts on behalf of New York State’s barns.
On completion, what were you most proud of?
Carrying the weight and responsibility of the personal stories we were trusted and honored to help tell for nine years was intense, and at times, daunting. It was a privilege for us to work closely with the barn owners and the Amish – a gift that we didn’t take lightly. We regret that we were not able to include all of the remaining barns in the program.
We recognize how blessed we were to have unparalleled access to personal, family, museum, municipal, and Monroe County Library archives. Fortunately, our region’s Wells barns have had a series of champions – starting with Jean Melville’s bicentennial efforts and beyond, to Daniel Fink’s chapter on Wells barns in his incredible tome Barns of the Genesee Country 1790-1915, to Bob and Judy Pratt’s self-published book entitled Wells Barns: J.T. Wells & Sons, Scottsville, NY 1886-1942: Barns Still Standing in 2004. These archival collections and others enabled us, as producers, to accurately illustrate the incredible story of Western New York’s Wells barns. We recognize that our documentary builds upon and furthers the combined advocacy efforts of Wells barn lovers who came before us.
We are especially honored to have been nominated for this award by the Big Springs Museum in Caledonia, New York. The museum opened its doors to us back in 2016 for the very first public presentation of the Wells Barn Legacy Team, featured an archival Wells barn photo as the design for its highly competitive “Piecing Together the Past” Jigsaw Puzzle Competition, leant us authentic Wells tools from its collection with the goal of adding a layer of authenticity to our set, and the museum’s administration and Board continue to encourage and support our awareness raising efforts. One day, we hope to unravel the mystery behind its “unidentified Wells contraption,” but in the meantime we highly encourage visitors to explore the Big Springs Museum’s Wells exhibit and other incredible offerings.
What impact do you hope this documentary has?
Throughout the documentary’s production, and even after its release, a quote continues to resonate with us from Cynthia Falk’s 2012 book Barns of New York: Rural Architecture of the Empire State:
“Architect-designed masterpieces trump the utilitarian structures used by farmers to store crops and machinery, house animals, and process various products. Yet agricultural buildings can tell us more about New York State’s history and culture than the one-of-a-kind landmarks that are so often pictured in architectural histories and tourist guidebooks. Agricultural buildings convey a sense of beauty in their own right and, despite their apparent commonality, exemplify ingenious design and craftsmanship that pairs form and function” (p. ix).
With this quote, Cynthia Falk beautifully encapsulates our feelings about giving rise to the eminence that barns and other agricultural outbuildings have so rightly earned.
According to Frances Stern, former Manager of Technical & Grant Programs with the Preservation League of New York State, Wells Barns were selected for inclusion on the League’s 2018-2019 Seven to Save Endangered Properties List with the intention that their inclusion would provide a case study to raise awareness and help inform and educate barn owners in New York State and across the country looking for support in repurposing and re-envisioning other endangered barns and agricultural outbuildings.
Six years later, we hope this finished documentary motivates our fellow New Yorkers, encouraging us to work together – on local levels, on regional levels, and at the state-level, to formulate an inclusive action plan for protecting, celebrating, and honoring New York State’s barns. Knowing that it is not realistic for all barns to remain in agricultural use, we also hope that some of the examples shared In the documentary serve to stimulate the development of additional supports for barn owners embracing adaptive reuse.
What does it mean to you to receive this statewide recognition?
Visually striking and arguably iconic, New York state’s barns are taken for granted by the average passerby. Yet beneath their soaring heights, their vast spaces are filled with stories. Rich in culture and steeped in history, they risk being silenced.
This statewide recognition represents an incredible opportunity for us, as barn lovers and advocates, to help raise greater awareness about New York State’s endangered barns.
Given that WXXI Public Media is currently offering free access to this documentary for all NYS Public Television Stations, the timing of this award couldn’t be more perfect. WXXI, WSKG, and WPBS are currently carrying the program, but given the validation of the documentary represented by the League’s award, we remain hopeful that other NYS stations may decide to broadcast it to viewers, thereby expanding its reach.
Each time the documentary airs, we receive encouraging messages from barn lovers across our social media platforms. Among the last vestiges of New York State’s agricultural past, barns have the capacity to connect us through a shared history and a disappearing way of life.