#Whirlgigs September 20
We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post.
Wilson County, North Carolina native Vollis Simpson started building WHIRTLGIGS in the 1970s with parts and items collected during his years of operating a repair shop in the small town of Lucama (a few miles southwest of Wilson).
Vollis Simpson
Vollis Simpson, a WWII veteran who in his retirement used his background as a machinist and rigger to build what he called “whirligigs,” kinetic windmill-like structures built with the mechanical spare parts used while running a machine shop in Lucama.
Reaching up to 55 feet, the moving structures are colossal. Though he resisted the label of artist, the whirligigs are widely acknowledged as significant examples of vernacular art. He died in 2013
These WHIRLGIGS helped transform Wilson NC. After Simpson death the sculptures began to weather and required some maintenance and upkeep. There was also a need to find a great location for these WHIRLGIGS.
Creating Whirlgig Park
Wilosn NC was able to secure a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. They decided to place all of Mr. Simpson’s WHIRLGIGS in a 2 acre park which today is located at:
Creating that park required conservators to transport the 31 whirligigs to the park site so that they could work on them collectively. They conferred closely with conservation experts from across the U.S., ensuring a high standard of craft. “The whirligigs were in much worse condition than originally estimated, requiring more time and money to repair and conserve,” observed Kimberly Van Dyk, Wilson’s downtown manager and the project director. Many of the parts were no longer available for purchase, so conservators had to lease a milling machine and a metal lathe so that it could alter or fabricate needed parts that weren’t available on the market.
Here is a video of what the park looks like today.
Recent Comments