On the crowded walls of the Indiana State Bar Association offices, the painting of Brown County’s courthouse is going to stand out.

Amanda Mathis is the artist, and her style is unique.

“I like the term ‘primitive.’ Some people call it ‘naïve folk art,’ but I like ‘primitive’ and I am the only person in the county who does it,” she said.

About seven months ago, Mathis was approached to paint the courthouse for an exhibit hanging in the offices in Indianapolis. It’s part of a project to collect original artwork depicting every one of Indiana’s 92 courthouses.

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Brown County’s is the 54th painting to be added.

When Mathis paints a picture, she doesn’t use faces. But she includes local “celebrities,” and sometimes, her family members.

The painting that will hang in Indianapolis features a bearded man standing with his hands in his pockets, wearing glasses and a hat.

“I don’t do faces, but everyone who sees this will know that this is Andy (Rogers),” Mathis said. “When I do a Nashville painting, most of the time I put Andy in.”

Other characters in the painting include April and Tom Barr, Carol and James T. Roberts, Kim Woods Owens, Doug Keaton, Benita Fox and Judge Judith Stewart.

Mathis also painted her two granddaughters walking their cat and dog, two other grandchildren, and her daughter and son-in-law sitting on a bench.

Mathis is in the picture, too, painting on the courthouse lawn, wearing her signature outfit: “I wear bib overalls and I jazz it up with nice shirts,” she said.

“My husband wondered where he was, but he rarely makes it in,” Mathis added with a laugh.

Carol Roberts spearheaded the Brown County contribution. James T. Roberts is a member of the Indiana State Bar Association.

Artwork can be submitted by local bar associations, lawyers, judges and other members of the legal profession.

“A particular interest to me when we started the project was the idea of trying to preserve the historic character of our courthouses,” said Doug Church, former president of the Indiana State Bar Association, who’s been organizing this project.

“A number of the paintings are of courthouses that no longer exist, because, sadly, commissioners decided they were too expensive to maintain.”

The courthouse painting collection is available for viewing anytime at the downtown Indianapolis bar offices.