Wilson is known for the whirligigs, large kinetic sculptures made by Vollis Simpson. They spin all year long, like a windmill, but it's not as effortless as it might seem. Dedicated conservationists ...

It should not come as a surprise to anyone traveling the back roads of Kansas that this state is a mecca for grassroots art. “My hypothesis is that when pioneer people moved to Kansas, they were ...

Q. I have no question this time – but hopefully a solution. Last year we had no problem with moles eating our sweet potatoes. The only thing that we did differently was that my husband put several ...

“Have you been out to Acid Park yet?” That’s how I first heard about Vollis Simpson’s whirligigs when I moved to Wilson, N.C., in 1991. So I headed south down 301 to Lucama, hung a right at Klint’s ...

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 ...

(This is the ninth story by this journalist in an occasional series revealing “Hidden America” — worthy travel destinations unknown by most Americans.) Vollis Simpson was a character. He was a North ...

The year was 1989. Charlie Gaddy was still anchoring the evening news. I was a young TV reporter trying to make my mark. And Vollis Simpson wasn’t even famous yet. A WRAL viewer called from Wilson and ...

WILSON, N.C. (AP) - 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 ...

They dip and spin and strain and stomp, these curious creations. What they all have in common is their Edmonds, Wash. creator. Ben Thal is a retired surgeon whose deft touch has been bringing life to ...

RALEIGH, N.C. — Vollis Simpson, a self-taught North Carolina artist famed for his whimsical, wind-powered whirligigs, has died. He was 94. Beth Liles of Joyner's Funeral Home confirmed the death ...

WILSON, N.C. — You really need to be outdoors and looking up to see the art of Vollis Simpson. And it helps if there’s a breeze. The late folk artist was known for his “outsider” kinetic pieces called ...