by We found the Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park on AtlasObscura.com and I was a little hesitant about it. Often I feel like I’m looking at a junkyard when you get to one of the site’s offbeat art listings. However, this park was a whimsical delight!
It’s a two-acre park in Wilson, North Carolina that features 30 whirligigs by – you guess it – Vollis Simpson.
Depending on the level of wind, it’s very calm or very frenetic! You can see what’s happening currently at the live web cam!
Vollis Simpson (1919-2013) was a folk artist who was known from making large whirligigs (kinetic sculptures) from salvaged metals. He didn’t really begin his life as an artist until after he retired at the age of 60.
The whirligigs were originally on his property, though they were later relocated to this park.
It turns out we’ve actually seen a Simpson whirligig on our adventures – it was one of the few things I had liked at the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland.
Love these!
Us too!