As a child growing up on a farm in northwest Indiana, Gwen Gutwein especially loved the family's barn.

But when she was 12 years old, the barn burned down, taking with it all of its history and beauty.

Several years ago, Gutwein returned to the area after living for 20 years in Florida and began the Barn Project — a quest to paint and catalog at least two barns from each of Indiana's 92 counties. Gutwein, an award-winning painter who teaches art to children and adults, wanted to capture the heritage of Indiana's historic barns before more of them disappear from the Hoosier landscape.

Gutwein has selected 13 of the barns for a 2008 calendar she is selling on her Web site, www.gwengutwein.com.

The Barn Project is the largest endeavor Gutwein has undertaken.

“I started out wanting to paint a few barns,” she said. The project later evolved into the current effort.

Through her travels around the country, Gutwein had recognized that historic barns are rare outside Indiana. She said barns like those in Indiana don't exist much past the eastern part of Missouri, so the need to chronicle Indiana's barns became even more important.

“Indiana is really lucky to have these barns,” she said. “I want to do my part to try to save them.”

Gutwein hears about some barns by word of mouth. Some are referred to her by a county's Cooperative Extension office. Others Gutwein finds by herself.

“Sometimes I'll just drive through a county,” she said.

Gutwein's efforts for each barn include taking photographs, collecting the history and getting Global Positioning Satellite measurements. She is careful to get owners' consent before beginning a painting. She also likes to get firsthand accounts of the barn's history.

She then takes her easel to the farm and spends four to six hours capturing the scene on canvas. In some cases, Gutwein will bring a painting back to the studio and make a larger painting from the original in the field.

For one barn near New Harmony, in southwest Indiana, Gutwein struck a deal with the owner to give him the original painting done on location after completing the larger studio piece. The barn was unique because it was built in 1821 as a stagecoach stop. Travelers could disembark under the protection of the roof while the horses could be stabled inside.

The Barn Project grows even more urgent as time goes by because barns are being torn down or destroyed.

Gutwein said that heirs of historic properties do not always live on the farm, so barns are often neglected or sold and torn down. Some of the barns Gutwein painted have since been torn down.

Another problem many barn owners face is taxation, she said. “The owners are charged by the footprint of the barn, whether or not it's used.”

Gutwein's paintings have spurred legislative efforts for tax relief for historic barns. According to Gutwein, a bill is now in committee in the Indiana Legislature that will provide some type of property tax reform for historic barns.

One of Gutwein's paintings, the Frank Cummings Farm Stilt Barn, was selected for display in the offices of Indiana Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman.

Gutwein has completed paintings for 36 counties and hopes to finish the barn project in five more years. The biggest obstacles are time and funding. Gutwein said each painting costs, on average, $400 to produce. She hopes sales of her calendar can generate enough revenue to finish the project.

Once she has finished the Barn Project, Gutwein hopes to have the entire collection exhibited in galleries throughout the state. She would like people to see how important these barns are to Indiana's heritage.