WILSON, N.C. – The eccentric vision of a self-taught North Carolina artist famed for his whimsical, wind-powered whirligigs is getting an overhaul that's as much about engineering as it is about art.

When a breeze brushes through the field just below Vollis Simpson's machine shop, you can hear the sounds of metal clanging against metal and of Ferris wheel-like contraptions turning. But the ...

WILSON, N.C. – The eccentric vision of a self-taught North Carolina artist famed for his whimsical, wind-powered whirligigs is getting an overhaul that’s as much about engineering as it is about art.

LUCAMA, N.C.LUCAMA, N.C. — When a breeze brushes through the field just below Vollis Simpson’s machine shop, you can hear the sounds of metal clanging against metal and of Ferris wheel-like ...