{"id":23358,"date":"2023-06-24T02:32:39","date_gmt":"2023-06-24T06:32:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/?page_id=23358"},"modified":"2023-09-05T14:27:30","modified_gmt":"2023-09-05T18:27:30","slug":"visionary-sites","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/visionary-sites\/","title":{"rendered":"Wonderlands: Visionary And Folk Art Sites Across The United States"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For several years now, I’ve been making pilgrimages to visionary sites across the United States. Below are a selection of photos from those trips. I’ll add more as I go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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If this is the kind of coverage of arts, cultures and activisms you appreciate, please support Wonderland by contributing to Wonderland on Patreon<\/a>. And sign up for our free, occasional newsletter<\/a> so that you don’t miss any of our reporting. (All content \u00a9Greg Cook 2023 or the respective creators.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alabama<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joe Minter’s African Village In America on Nassau Avenue, Birmingham, Alabama.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Joe
Joe Minter at his African Village In America on Nassau Avenue, Birmingham, Alabama, 2023. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Joe
Joe Minter’s African Village In America on Nassau Avenue, Birmingham, Alabama, 2023. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Joe
Joe Minter’s African Village In America on Nassau Avenue, Birmingham, Alabama, 2023. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Joe
Joe Minter’s African Village In America on Nassau Avenue, Birmingham, Alabama, 2023. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Joe
Joe Minter’s African Village In America on Nassau Avenue, Birmingham, Alabama, 2023. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Brother Joseph Zoettl’s Ave Maria Grotto<\/a> at Cullman, Alabama.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Brother
Brother Joseph Zoettl’s Ave Maria Grotto at Cullman, Alabama, 2023. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Brother
Brother Joseph Zoettl’s Ave Maria Grotto at Cullman, Alabama, 2023. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Brother
Brother Joseph Zoettl’s Ave Maria Grotto at Cullman, Alabama, 2023. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Connecticut<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

John Greco’s Holy Land USA<\/a> in Waterbury, Connecticut.<\/strong> The Waterbury attorney was a son an immigrant shoemaker. He grew up to be \u201ca devout Catholic who spent much of his life working with the poor and spreading the Gospel,\u201d the Hartford Courant newspaper has said. He \u201csermonized on street corners before buying this hill,\u201d The Boston Globe reported in October 1986. He bought the 18-acre site in 1956 (according to the Hartford Courant). With help from volunteers, he constructed a miniature Bethlehem and Jerusalem and catacombs of Rome. They \u201crecycled cinder blocks, chicken wire, old bathtubs, mannequins, even an old freezer to create a diorama of Biblical scenes that people viewed by walking the site,\u201d the Courant has reported. Holy Land USA opened to the public in 1958. Near the entrance, a sign explained that Holy Land USA told the story of Jesus Christ \u201cfrom cradle to the Cross\u201d in hopes of bringing visitors \u201ccloser to Him.\u201d Holy Land USA closed in 1984 and Greco died at age 90 in 1986. He gave the property to the neighboring Filippini Sisters and it began to fall into disrepair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Holy
Holy Land USA in Waterbury, Connecticut, April 18, 2019. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Holy
Holy Land USA in Waterbury, Connecticut, May 31, 2011. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Holy
Holy Land USA in Waterbury, Connecticut, April 18, 2019. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Holy
Holy Land USA in Waterbury, Connecticut, April 18, 2019. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Jeff Wells’s Dinosaur Haven at Uncasville, Connecticut.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Jeff
Jeff Wells’s Dinosaur Haven at Uncasville, Connecticut, 2018. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Jeff
Jeff Wells’s Dinosaur Haven at Uncasville, Connecticut, 2018. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Jeff
Jeff Wells’s Dinosaur Haven at Uncasville, Connecticut, 2018. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Georgia<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Frieda and Garnet Carter’s Rock City<\/a> at Lookout Mountain, Georgia.<\/strong> In 1924, Garnet Carter and his wife Frieda constructed a residential neighborhood on the top of Lookout Mountain, Georgia, the site of the Civil War battle. They called their development Fairyland, inspired by Frieda\u2019s love of European folklore. Mr. Carter planned a golf course for the place, but as construction was delayed, he built what\u2019s billed as the \u201cnation\u2019s first miniature golf course.\u201d Garnet franchised the mini golf concept across the United States, while Frieda dreamed up a path winding through rock formations atop Lookout Mountain, ending at an overlook dubbed \u201cLover\u2019s Leap.\u201d She transplanted wildflowers along the boulders and canyons and punctuated the journey with statues of gnomes and fairytale characters. Rock City, as they called it, opened to the public on May 21, 1932. Today, it\u2019s a soothing stroll though narrow canyons, over stone bridges and past splashing brooks. Atmospheric music is piped in along the way. Finally, you arrive at that monumental outcropping with a waterfall crashing down the side and, they say, a view of seven states. To attract visitors to this out-of-the-way location, Mr. Carter hired a sign painter by name of Clark Byers to paint barns from Michigan to Texas for free\u2014in exchange for letting him paint the words \u201cSee Rock City\u201d across the structures. The slogan became a classic of roadside advertising. The tour of Rock City ends with you descending into Fairyland Caverns and Mother Goose Village, black-light fairytale dioramas added in the 1960s. Some feel they clash with the calming natural surroundings, but the eye-popping displays have a dazzle all their own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Rock
Rock City at Lookout Mountain, Georgia, June 15, 2019. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Rock
Rock City at Lookout Mountain, Georgia, June 15, 2019. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Rock
Rock City at Lookout Mountain, Georgia, June 15, 2019. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Fairyland
Fairyland Caverns at Rock City at Lookout Mountain, Georgia, June 15, 2019. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Fairyland
Fairyland Caverns at Rock City at Lookout Mountain, Georgia, June 15, 2019. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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\u201cChesapeake Salt Life\u201d and \u201cOyster Shell Landscaping\u201d at 7246 Skidaway Road, Savannah, Georgia.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Savannah,
Savannah, Georgia: 7246 Skidaway Road. June 23, 2019. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Savannah,
Savannah, Georgia: 7246 Skidaway Road. June 23, 2019. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Howard Finster\u2019s Paradise Garden<\/a> at Summerville, Georgia.<\/strong> In 1961, minister and repairman Howard Finster (1916-2001) bought four acres of waterlogged land at Pennville, Georgia. People had used the place as a dump. Finster channeled the water and cleaned up the trash\u2014some of which he used to create art. \u201cI took the pieces, you threw away, and put them together by night, and day, washed by rain, dried by sun, a million pieces all in one,\u201d he proclaimed. Beginning in 1945, he had constructed a garden museum at his home in Trion, Georgia, featuring models of houses and churches and celebrating human invention. Some of these constructions served as the foundation for his Plant Farm Museum, now known as Paradise Garden. \u201cIt is a place to meet with God,\u201d Finster said. \u201cThe Rock Garden is a place of joy, wonder and discovery. It is a place to be with those you love.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Howard
Howard Finster\u2019s Paradise Garden at Summerville, Georgia, June 25, 2019. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Howard
Howard Finster\u2019s Paradise Garden at Summerville, Georgia, June 25, 2019. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Howard
Howard Finster\u2019s Paradise Garden at Summerville, Georgia, June 25, 2019. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Howard
Howard Finster\u2019s Paradise Garden at Summerville, Georgia, June 25, 2019. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Howard
Howard Finster\u2019s Paradise Garden at Summerville, Georgia, June 25, 2019. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Old Dog’s Rock Garden<\/a> at Calhoun, Georgia.<\/strong> It was a sweltering hot afternoon when we arrived at the Rock Garden behind Calhoun Seventh Day Adventist Church in Calhoun, Georgia, in 2019. Since September 2007, a retired gentleman who goes by the name Old Dog has constructed a miniature fairytale village of castles and cathedrals and cottages out of concrete and stones and shells along a creek behind the church. \u201cIt is a place to meet with God. The Rock Garden is a place of joy, wonder and discovery. It is a place to be with those you love,\u201d he has said. The buildings are certainly less than life-sized, but some rise more than 6 feet tall. We were fortunate to bump into Old Dog there and he kindly invited our kids to help him cobble together a little bridge of wire, concrete and smooth river stones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
The Rock Garden, created by an artist by the name of Old Dog, behind the Seventh Day Adventist Church, Calhoun, Georgia, June 25, 2019. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Old
Old Dog, creator of the Rock Garden, behind the Seventh Day Adventist Church, Calhoun, Georgia, June 25, 2019. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"The
The Rock Garden, created by an artist by the name of Old Dog, behind the Seventh Day Adventist Church, Calhoun, Georgia, June 25, 2019. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"The
The Rock Garden, created by an artist by the name of Old Dog, behind the Seventh Day Adventist Church, Calhoun, Georgia, June 25, 2019. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"The
The Rock Garden, created by an artist by the name of Old Dog, behind the Seventh Day Adventist Church, Calhoun, Georgia, June 25, 2019. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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St. EOM’s Pasaquan at Buena Vista, Georgia.<\/strong> Eddie Owens Martin had been a street hustler, bartender, gambler, drag queen and fortuneteller in New York. But after his mother died, he returned to his native, Buena Vista, Georgia, in 1957 and moved into her old farmhouse. He wore robes and feathered headdresses and offered to tell people\u2019s fortunes for money, which he used to turn his mother\u2019s property into a 7-acre visionary estate Pasaquan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019re gonna be the start of somethin\u2019 new,\u201d he said, \u201cand you\u2019ll call yourself \u2018Saint EOM,\u2019 and you\u2019ll be a Pasaquoyan\u2014the first one in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over three decades, he created six major structures, mandala murals and more than 900 feet of elaborately painted masonry walls inspired by African, Hindu, pre-Columbian Mexico and Native American traditions. When his health flagged, he committed suicide in 1986. And Pasaquan began to fade. But the place is vividly hued again after a 2014 restoration by the Pasaquan Preservation Society, Kohler Foundation and Columbus State University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Pasaquan,
Pasaquan, created by St. EOM (Eddie Owens Martin), at Buena Vista, Georgia. June 23, 2019. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Pasaquan,
Pasaquan, created by St. EOM (Eddie Owens Martin), at Buena Vista, Georgia. June 23, 2019. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Pasaquan,
Pasaquan, created by St. EOM (Eddie Owens Martin), at Buena Vista, Georgia. June 23, 2019. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Pasaquan,
Pasaquan, created by St. EOM (Eddie Owens Martin), at Buena Vista, Georgia. June 23, 2019. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Illinois<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Little library at 1524 W. Devon, Chicago.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Little
Little library at 1524 W. Devon, Chicago, 2022. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Mr. Imagination’s grotto at the Elliott Donnelley Youth Center, Michigan Avenue, Chicago.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mr.
Mr. Imagination’s grotto at the Elliott Donnelley Youth Center, Michigan Avenue, Chicago, 2022. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Yard show on Lunt at Peterson, Chicago.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Yard
Yard show on Lunt at Peterson, Chicago, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Yard
Yard show on Lunt at Peterson, Chicago, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Iowa<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Father Paul Dobberstein’s Grotto of the Redemption<\/a> at West Bend, Iowa, and Holy Family Grotto at the Sisters of St. Francis Convent in Dubuque, Iowa.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Father
Father Paul Dobberstein’s Grotto of the Redemption at West Bend, Iowa, 2022. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Father
Father Paul Dobberstein’s Grotto of the Redemption at West Bend, Iowa, 2022. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Father
Father Paul Dobberstein’s Grotto of the Redemption at West Bend, Iowa, 2022. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Father
Father Paul Dobberstein’s Holy Family Grotto at the Sisters of St. Francis Convent in Dubuque, Iowa, 2022. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Louisiana<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kenny Hill Sculpture Garden on Bayouside Drive in Chauvin, Louisiana.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Kenny
Kenny Hill Sculpture Garden on Bayouside Drive in Chauvin, Louisiana, 2023. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Kenny
Kenny Hill Sculpture Garden on Bayouside Drive in Chauvin, Louisiana, 2023. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Music Box Villiage<\/a> by the art collective New Orleans Airlift in New Orleans, Louisiana.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Music
Music Box Villiage by New Orleans Airlift in New Orleans, Louisiana, 2023. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Music
Music Box Villiage by New Orleans Airlift in New Orleans, Louisiana, 2023. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Dr. Charles Smith’s African-American Heritage Museum and Black Veterans Archive in Hammond, Louisiana.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Dr.
Dr. Charles Smith at his African-American Heritage Museum and Black Veterans Archive in Hammond, Louisiana, 2023. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Dr.
Dr. Charles Smith’s African-American Heritage Museum and Black Veterans Archive in Hammond, Louisiana, 2023. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Dr.
Dr. Charles Smith’s African-American Heritage Museum and Black Veterans Archive in Hammond, Louisiana, 2023. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Dr.
Dr. Charles Smith’s African-American Heritage Museum and Black Veterans Archive in Hammond, Louisiana, 2023. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Sculptures
Sculptures by Dr. Charles Smith at the Art Preserve of the Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, July 2, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Maine<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bernard “Blackie” Langlais home in Cushing, Maine<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Bernard
Bernard “Blackie” Langlais home in Cushing, Maine, 2018. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Bernard
Bernard “Blackie” Langlais home in Cushing, Maine, 2018. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Inside
Inside the home and studio of the late sculptor Bernard Langlais at the Langlais Sculpture Preserve in Cushing, Maine, July 30, 2018. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Bernard
Bernard “Blackie” Langlais home in Cushing, Maine, 2018. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Bernard
Bernard “Blackie” Langlais home in Cushing, Maine, 2018. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Bernard
Bernard Langlais sculptures outside Ogunquit Museum of Art, Maine, Feb. 3, 2019. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Bernard
Bernard Langlais sculptures outside Ogunquit Museum of Art, Maine, Feb. 3, 2019. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\u201cMrs.
\u201cMrs. Noah\u201d by the late Maine sculptor Bernard Langlais at Shepard\u2019s Farm Family Preserve, Norway, Maine, Aug. 10, 2018. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Bernard
Bernard Langlais sculpture of football players, Skowhegan, Maine, July 30, 2019. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Stephen Leakos’s Skowhegan Downtown Art Gallery and Leakos Auction<\/a> in Skowhegan, Maine.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Stephen
Stephen Leakos outside of his Skowhegan Downtown Art Gallery, Skowhegan, Maine, Jul 30, 2019. (Greg Cook) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Stephen
Stephen Leakos “Provocative Painting” advertisement inside of his Skowhegan Downtown Art Gallery, Skowhegan, Maine, Jul 30, 2019. (Greg Cook) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Stephen
Stephen Leakos outside of his Skowhegan Downtown Art Gallery, Skowhegan, Maine, Jul 30, 2019. (Greg Cook) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Inside
Inside Stephen Leakos’s Skowhegan Downtown Art Gallery and Leakos Auction, Skowhegan, Maine, Jul 30, 2019. (Greg Cook) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\""Miss
“Miss New York” painting inside Stephen Leakos’s Skowhegan Downtown Art Gallery and Leakos Auction, Skowhegan, Maine, Jul 30, 2019. (Greg Cook) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Maryland<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clarke Bedford\u2019s Vanadu Gardens, Hyattsville, Maryland.<\/strong> Clark Bedford has transformed his home near Washington, D.C., into Vanadu Gardens, a wonderland of metal contraptions and constructions, two buses, a station wagon, a van and whirligigs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Clarke
Clarke Bedfords\u2019s Vanadu Gardens, Hyattsville, Maryland, June 17, 2019. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Clarke
Clarke Bedford outside his Vanadu Gardens, Hyattsville, Maryland, June 17, 2019. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Home of Katherine Fahey and Dan Van Allen, Baltimore.<\/strong> Fahey is a puppeteer and crankie-maker and Dan Van Allen is an artist and furniture restorer. He\u2019s lived in this house for decades, filling rooms with altars and shrines and collections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Katherine
Katherine Fahey and Dan Van Allen in their Baltimore home, June 16, 2019. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Dan
Dan Van Allen’s home in Baltimore, June 16, 2019. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Massachusetts<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Roger Babson’s Dogtown Boulders<\/a> in Gloucester, Massachusetts. <\/strong>During the Depression, the Gloucester millionaire hired unemployed quarry workers to carve inspirational slogans into the stones. \u201cAnother thing I have been doing, which I hope will be carried on after my death, is the carving of mottoes on the boulders at Dogtown,\u201d Babson (1875-1967) wrote in his autobiography. \u201cMy family says that I am defacing the boulders and disgracing the family with these inscriptions, but the work gives me a lot of satisfaction, fresh air, exercise, and sunshine. I am really trying to write a simple book with words carved in stone instead of on printed paper.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Courage
Courage boulder in Gloucester’s Dogtown woods, Nov. 6, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Keep
Keep Out Of Debt boulder in Gloucester’s Dogtown woods, Nov. 6, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Loyalty
Loyalty boulder in Gloucester’s Dogtown woods, Nov. 6, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Truth
Truth boulder in Gloucester’s Dogtown woods, Nov. 6, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Ideas
Ideas boulder in Gloucester’s Dogtown woods, Nov. 6, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Martha Friend<\/a>‘s home in Somerville, Massachusetts.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Martha
Martha Friend’s Highland Avenue home during Somerville Open Studios, May 6, 2023. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Martha
Martha Friend’s Highland Avenue home during Somerville Open Studios, May 6, 2023. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Martha
Martha Friend’s Highland Avenue home during Somerville Open Studios, May 6, 2023. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Martha
Martha Friend’s Highland Avenue home during Somerville Open Studios, May 6, 2023. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Leaning Tower of Pisa house, Elmwood Street, Revere, Massachusetts.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Leaning
Leaning Tower of Pisa house, Elmwood Street, Revere, Massachusetts, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Phillip Ligone’s Boston Rowhouse<\/a>.<\/strong> \u201cAt 9 Dwight Street, you\u2019ll find an unusual array of sculptures. This was done by the owner in the 1960s and 1970s. He was a blind artist named Phillip Ligone,” the Eight Streets Neighborhood Association has written. “Ligone passed away in 2002 and his long-time partner, Ramona Petillo (as of 2014) still lives there. Ligone was born in Boston, the only son of Italian immigrant parents. He moved to the South End in the early 1950s and in 1983 said he intended to live in the South End until he dies \u2013 which he did. He got interested in sculpture through his father, who sculpted statues for cemeteries. Most of the statues you see are from molds that Ligone purchased in Italy. In a 1983 South End News article, Ligone says that he hadn\u2019t worked in 20 years because he had two large lottery wins that he lived off of.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Sculptures
Sculptures decorate the front of 9 Dwight St., Boston, Jan. 4, 2019. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Sculptures
Sculptures decorate front of 9 Dwight St., Boston, Feb. 16, 2018. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Sculptures
Sculptures decorate 9 Dwight St., Boston, Jan. 4, 2019. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Richard M. Richardson’s Three Sisters Sanctuary<\/a> in Goshen, Massachusetts.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Richard
Richard M. Richardson’s Three Sisters Sanctuary in Goshen, Massachusetts, 2018. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Richard
Richard M. Richardson’s Three Sisters Sanctuary in Goshen, Massachusetts, 2018. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Richard
Richard M. Richardson’s Three Sisters Sanctuary in Goshen, Massachusetts, 2018. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Richard
Richard M. Richardson’s Three Sisters Sanctuary in Goshen, Massachusetts, 2018. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Nicholas Shaplyko and Ekatrina Sorokina’s Museum of Modern Renaissance in Somerville, Massachusetts.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Museum
Museum of Modern Renaissance during Somerville Open Studios, May 6, 2023. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Museum
Museum of Modern Renaissance during Somerville Open Studios, May 6, 2023. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Peter Valentine’s house on Franklin Street at Brookline Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts.<\/strong> Valentine died in 2022 and his house has been sold to be developed into affordable housing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Peter
Peter Valentine outside his house on Franklin Street at Brookline Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2018. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Whirligigs on Chestnut Hill Ave, Athol, Massachusetts.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Whirligigs
Whirligigs on Chestnut Hill Ave, Athol, Massachusetts, 2020. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Whirligigs
Whirligigs on Chestnut Hill Ave, Athol, Massachusetts, 2020. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Winnie-the-Pooh House<\/a> by the Harvard Science Building, Cambridge, Massachusetts.<\/strong> Somewhere around the early to mid 1990s, George Eastman began taking care of Pooh\u2019s house. It was a full tree then\u2014perhaps a chestnut, he says. \u201cAt that particular time, my second family, my young children, we would be passing by that\u2014they usually went to the Christian Science Church, went with their mother, but occasionally I\u2019d accompany them. There was a sort of vestige of Pooh\u2019s house there, a sign that said \u2018Pooh.’\u201d He replaced the faded sign and added a door. \u201cThere was a natural hole there that could lend itself,\u201d Eastman says. \u201cThere was a little sign over it, but no door. I wanted to give is some more verisimilitude by adding the door.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In June 2012, the tree\u2019s poor health prompted Harvard to chop it down, leaving a tall stump. \u201cIt was an ancient tree and apparently it was diseased and because it was so close to the Science Building they were afraid of it,\u201d Eastman says. In the years since, Eastman has been easing out of his caretaking duties. \u201cAs the children grew up and have left, in a way I was partly maintaining it for them, so that motivation left. I also decided that if this was an important project someone else could take it over. But, however, I have been thinking of making another Pooh sign and putting it somewhere above that opening to re-identify it as Pooh\u2019s house.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Winnie-the-Pooh
Winnie-the-Pooh House outside Harvard Science Center, Cambridge, January 2013. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

“Wonder Woman Rosey” barn by DuPont Painting on Columbia Street at Robert Street, Lee, Massachusetts.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\""Wonder
“Wonder Woman Rosey” barn by DuPont Painting on Columbia Street at Robert Street, Lee, Massachusetts, 2018. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"DuPont
DuPont Painting property on Columbia Street at Robert Street, Lee, Massachusetts, 2018. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Michigan<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Olayami Dabls’s Mbad African Bead Museum<\/a> at Detroit, Michigan.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Olayami
Olayami Dabls’s Mbad African Bead Museum at Detroit, Michigan, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Olayami
Olayami Dabls at his Mbad African Bead Museum at Detroit, Michigan, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Olayami
Olayami Dabls’s Mbad African Bead Museum at Detroit, Michigan, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Olayami
Olayami Dabls’s Mbad African Bead Museum at Detroit, Michigan, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Tyree Guyton’s “Heidelberg Project”<\/a> in Detroit, Michigan.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Tyree
Tyree Guyton’s “Heidelberg Project” in Detroit, Michigan, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Tyree
Tyree Guyton’s “Heidelberg Project” in Detroit, Michigan, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Tyree
Tyree Guyton’s “Heidelberg Project” in Detroit, Michigan, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Tyree
Tyree Guyton’s “Heidelberg Project” in Detroit, Michigan, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Tyree
Tyree Guyton’s “Heidelberg Project” in Detroit, Michigan, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Premier Ice Cream truck in Detroit, Michigan.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Premier
Premier Ice Cream truck in Detroit, Michigan, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Dmytro Szylak’s Hamtramck Disneyland<\/a> in Detroit.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Dmytro
Dmytro Szylak’s Hamtramck Disneyland in Detroit, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Mississippi<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Walter Harvell Jackson and Pellerree Jackson\u2019s Palestine Gardens in Lucedale, Mississippi.<\/strong> I didn’t get to see the miniature Holy Land the two men had built outside on their wooded property when I visited in 2023 because it’s closed on Mondays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Walter
Walter Harvell Jackson and Pellerree Jackson\u2019s Palestine Gardens in Lucedale, Mississippi, 2023. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

New Jersey<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ricky Boscarino’s “Luna-Parc”<\/a> at Sandyston, New Jersey.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ricky
Ricky Boscarino’s “Luna-Parc” at Sandyston, New Jersey, 2022. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Inside
Inside Ricky Boscarino’s “Luna-Parc” house at Sandyston, New Jersey, 2022. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Inside
Inside Ricky Boscarino’s “Luna-Parc” house at Sandyston, New Jersey, 2022. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Ricky
Ricky Boscarino at his “Luna-Parc” at Sandyston, New Jersey, 2022. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Elf house on Heck Avenue at New Jersey Avenue, Ocean Grove, New Jersey.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Elf
Elf house on Heck Avenue at New Jersey Avenue, Ocean Grove, New Jersey, 2022. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

New York<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emile Brunel’s Sculpture Garden<\/a> at Boiceville, New York.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Emile
Emile Brunel’s Sculpture Garden at Boiceville, New York, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Emile
Emile Brunel’s Sculpture Garden at Boiceville, New York, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Steve Heller’s Fabulous Furniture<\/a> and Auto Art, Boiceville, New York.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Steve
Steve Heller’s Fabulous Furniture and Auto Art, Boiceville, New York, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Steve
Steve Heller of Heller’s Fabulous Furniture and Auto Art, Boiceville, New York, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Steve
Steve Heller’s Fabulous Furniture and Auto Art, Boiceville, New York, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

North Carolina<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elsewhere<\/a> in Greensboro, North Carolina.<\/strong> Elsewhere is a museum and artist residency that makes its home in the 3-floor, former thrift store that was operated Sylvia Gray in Greensboro, North Carolina. \u201cOver time her inventory became more or less a collection, more or less a hoard, more or less an archive that detailed her tastes, interests, and perceptions of value,\u201d the institution reports. \u201c\u2026The astounding accumulation amassed over her lifetime remained in a massive heap that was boarded up after her death in 1997.\u201d Gray\u2019s grandson George Scheer visited with friends on spring break from the University of Pennsylvania in 2003 and got the idea to transform it into \u2026 something. With friends\u2019 help, they made it into a \u201cliving museum,\u201d an art environment that is part shrine to Gray\u2019s collecting and part \u201cchanging, interactive environment of artworks, objects, and programs that inspire new ways to look at and re-purpose recent cultural surplus.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Elsewhere
Elsewhere in Greensboro, North Carolina, June 28, 2019. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park at Wilson, North Carolina.<\/strong> When he neared retirement age, Vollis Simpson, a farm machinery repairman based at a quiet rural crossroads in Lucama, North Carolina, began constructing giant kalediscopic kinetic sculptures and placing them around a pond across from his shop. Some rose more than 50 feet into the sky. The shop and whirligig garden are mostly overgrown now. There\u2019s barbed wire and signs warn to keep out. At the corner stands one of his monumental whirligigs, paint fading, but still elegantly spinning in the wind. Before he died at age 94 in May 2013, a plan was hatched to move most of them to the city of Wilson, 11 miles away, where a park would be created specifically dedicated to them. There are some 30 of them there now, spruced up in bright red, white and blue, astonishingly huge and yet delicately dancing in the wind. They\u2019re joyous and make you attentive to the air currents. They\u2019re like a carnival of the sky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Vollis
Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park & Museum, Wilson, North Carolina, June 19, 2019. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Vollis
Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park & Museum, Wilson, North Carolina, June 19, 2019. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Vollis
Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park & Museum, Wilson, North Carolina, June 19, 2019. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"One
One of Vollis Simpson’s last monumental whirligigs at the original location near his shop in Lucama, North Carolina, June 19, 2019. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Vollis
Vollis Simpson\u2019s monumental whirligigs outside the Art Preserve of the Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, July 2, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Quentin J. Stephenson’s Occoneeche Trapper\u2019s Lodge, Garysburg, North Carolina.<\/strong> Stephenson’s former home includes his Occoneeche Trapper\u2019s Lodge in the front yard right along the road. The lodge is a sort of art monument or museum that Stephenson, who died in 1997, decorated with mosaics, cedar knees and sculptures addressing environmental and Native American themes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Quentin
Quentin J. Stephenson: Occoneeche Trapper\u2019s Lodge, Garysburg, North Carolina, June 19, 2019. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Inside
Inside Quentin J. Stephenson: Occoneeche Trapper\u2019s Lodge, State Rd 1310, Garysburg, North Carolina, June 19, 2019. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Ohio<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jim Bowsher’s Temple of Tolerance<\/a> at Wapakoneta, Ohio.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Jim
Jim Bowsher’s Temple of Tolerance at Wapakoneta, Ohio, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Jim
Jim Bowsher at his Temple of Tolerance at Wapakoneta, Ohio, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Jeff Elersic’s van and home at Geneva, Ohio.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Jeff
Jeff Elersic’s van and home at Geneva, Ohio, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Ben Hartman’s Rock Garden at Springfield, Ohio.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ben<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Roy Peters’s Welding at Harborcreek, Ohio.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Roy<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Rock City at Cadiz, Ohio<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Rock
Rock City at Cadiz, Ohio, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Rock
Rock City at Cadiz, Ohio, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Rock
Rock City at Cadiz, Ohio, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Pennsylvania<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Randy Gilson’s Randyland in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Randy
Randy Gilson’s Randyland in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Randy
Randy Gilson’s Randyland in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Randy
Randy Gilson’s Randyland in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Randy
Randy Gilson’s Randyland in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Halaluyah motor home at Philadelphia City Hall, Pennsylvania.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Halaluyah
Halaluyah motor home at Philadelphia City Hall, Pennsylvania, 2019. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Willie Jordan’s home on 17th Street in Erie, Pennsylvania.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Willie
Willie Jordan at his home on 17th Street in Erie, Pennsylvania, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Willie
Willie Jordan’s home on 17th Street in Erie, Pennsylvania, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Willie
Willie Jordan’s home on 17th Street in Erie, Pennsylvania, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Martin Prekop’s Mirror House<\/a> in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.<\/strong> The problem was the view. \u201cIf you looked out the bathroom window, you looked onto a brick wall,\u201d the artist Martin Prekop tells me. \u201cThere was a beautiful wood behind it, but you couldn\u2019t see it.\u201d So he began covering that wall outside the main bedroom\u2019s bathroom at the right rear of the house with mirrors that he custom cut to 2 inches wide by 8 inches long to match the size of the exterior bricks. Then he added more mirrors to the exterior of the house. And more mirrors. And more mirrors. Thousands of them. Until he\u2019d covered nearly the whole exterior of the brown brick, split-level ranch house house at 897 Field Club Road in Pittsburgh\u2019s leafy upscale Fox Chapel neighborhood. \u201cYou never know how many bricks your home is made up of until you decide to put mirrors on every one,\u201d Prekop joked to a gathering of Mattress Factory members at the house in 2016. \u201cIt is like an art project that never ends.\u201d Prekop put the house up for sale in spring 2023. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Martin
Martin Prekop’s Mirror House, Pittsburgh. (Sotheby’s International Realty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Martin
Martin Prekop’s Mirror House, Pittsburgh. (\u00a9Greg Cook 2021)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Isaiah Zagar’s Magic Gardens<\/a> in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Isaiah
Isaiah Zagar’s Magic Gardens in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2019. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Isaiah
Isaiah Zagar’s Magic Gardens in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2019. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Isaiah
Isaiah Zagar’s Magic Gardens in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2019. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Isaiah
Isaiah Zagar’s Magic Gardens in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2019. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Isaiah
Isaiah Zagar’s Magic Gardens in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2019. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

South Carolina<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pearl Fryar\u2019s Topiary Garden in Bishopville, South Carolina. <\/strong>In the early 1980s, Pearl Fryar began transforming his Bishopville home into a fantastic topiary garden, often using plants rescued from the compost piles of local nurseries. \u201cI didn\u2019t have any limitations because I really didn\u2019t know anything about horticulture,\u201d he has said. \u201cI just figured I could do whatever I wanted to with any plant I had.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Pearl
Pearl Fryar\u2019s Topiary Garden at Bishopville, South Carolina, June 20, 2019. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Pearl
Pearl Fryar\u2019s Topiary Garden at Bishopville, South Carolina, June 20, 2019. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Oyotunji African Village at Seabrook, South Carolina.<\/strong> Founded in 1970, Oyotunji African Village describes itself at \u201cthe first intentional community in North America based on the culture of the Yoruba and Dahomey tribes of West Africa.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Oyotunji
Oyotunji African Village, Seabrook, South Carolina, June 22, 2019. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Oyotunji
Oyotunji African Village, Seabrook, South Carolina, June 22, 2019. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Oyotunji
Oyotunji African Village, Seabrook, South Carolina, June 22, 2019. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Oyotunji
Oyotunji African Village, Seabrook, South Carolina, June 22, 2019. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Dalton Stevens\u2019s Button King Museum in Bishopville, South Carolina.<\/strong> The Button King Museum is located in a Quonset hut along a dirt road curving through a farm field in Bishopville, South Carolina. \u201cMy name is Dalton Stevens and I suffer from insomnia. In 1983 it got so bad that I got up one night and started sewing buttons on a denim suit,\u201d according to a sign authored by Stevens, who died in 2016. \u201cTwo years and 10 months later I still couldn\u2019t sleep and the suit was covered with 16,333 buttons. It weighted 16 pounds. Things kind of evolved from that starting point.\u201d Inside the building, we found a button-covered hearse, car, coffin, outhouse, guitar, piano, grandfather clock and the suit that started it all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Button
Button King Museum created by the late Dalton Stevens in Bishopville, South Carolina, June 20, 2019. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Button
Button King Museum created by the late Dalton Stevens in Bishopville, South Carolina, June 20, 2019. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

UFO Welcome Center at Bowman, South Carolina.<\/strong> The UFO Welcome Center at Bowman, South Carolina, is like a makeshift backyard Noah\u2019s Ark for the 21st century. Picture a flying saucer made out of plywood and you\u2019ve got a pretty good image of the thing. Outside it\u2019s a rough but impressive structure with broadsides painted on the surrounding fence that seem to warn: \u201cPlease do not take pictures of visitors from other planets with out their O.K. or you may be zapped.\u201d You can climb up to the top inside, about three stories high, via terrifyingly precariously placed ladders. The flying saucer\u2019s windows are made from glass pie plates. But the inside is filled with trash and graffiti and sadness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"UFO
UFO Welcome Center in Bowman, South Carolina, June 20, 2019. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Tennessee<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dionicio Rodriguez’s Crystal Shrine Grotto at Memphis, Tennessee.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Dionicio-Rodriguez's
Dionicio-Rodriguez’s Crystal Shrine Grotto at Memphis, Tennessee, 2023. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Lord’s Church Pillar and Ground of the Truth<\/a> at 102 Paxton Road, Lancing, Tennssee.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Lord's
Lord’s Church Pillar and Ground of the Truth at 102 Paxton Road, Lancing, Tennssee, 2023. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Lord's
Lord’s Church Pillar and Ground of the Truth at 102 Paxton Road, Lancing, Tennssee, 2023. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Billy Tripp’s Mindfield Cemetery in Brownsville, Tennessee.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Billy
Billy Tripp’s Mindfield Cemetery in Brownsville, Tennessee, 2023. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Billy
Billy Tripp at his Mindfield Cemetery in Brownsville, Tennessee, 2023. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Billy
Billy Tripp’s Mindfield Cemetery in Brownsville, Tennessee, 2023. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Vermont<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clare Dolan’s Museum of Everyday Life in Glover, Vermont.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Clare
Clare Dolan’s Museum of Everyday Life in Glover, Vermont, 2022. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"The
The Museum of Everyday Life, Glover, Vermont, Aug. 20, 2018. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"The
The Museum of Everyday Life, Glover, Vermont, Aug. 20, 2018. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Stephen Huneck’s Dog Chapel<\/a> at St. Johnsbury, Vermont.<\/strong> \u201cThis will be a spiritual place to bring your dog,\u201d he told The Boston Globe in 1998. \u201cI\u2019ll carve dog pews; the music will be Gregorian chants, mixed with the howling of wolves. I\u2019m going to paint a dog version of the Sistine Chapel, with angel dogs and the hand of God. The church will be lighted with stained-glass windows done with scenes of dogs. I can see plaster statues of Mary and Jesus with their dogs. I want a place to hold baptisms for litters.\u201d After it opened to the public on Memorial Day weekend in 2000, Huneck invited visitors to post photos and hand-written notes on the walls remembering dogs that have passed on.  \u201cI had envisioned maybe someday having the foyer filled top to bottom with dog pictures. I never anticipated the whole building\u2014every single space\u2014covered with photos and words of remembrance, as the chapel is today.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Stephen
Stephen Huneck’s Dog Chapel, St. Johnsbury, Vermont, Aug. 26, 2019. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Stephen
Stephen Huneck’s Dog Chapel, St. Johnsbury, Vermont, Aug. 26, 2019. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Peter Schumann’s Bread and Puppet Museum<\/a> in Glover, Vermont.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Bread
Bread and Puppet Museum, Glover, Vermont, 2022. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Bread
Bread and Puppet Museum, Glover, Vermont, 2022. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Bread
Bread and Puppet Museum, Glover, Vermont, 2022. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Virginia<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mark Cline\u2019s Dinosaur Kingdom II at Natural Bridge, Virginia.<\/strong> As you enter Mark Cline\u2019s Dinosaur Kingdom II at Natural Bridge, Virginia, a sign explains: \u201cIt\u2019s mid-June, 1864. General David Hunter has just raided and burned nearby Lexington and has continued maneuvering his troops toward Lynchburg. Several Union scouts have detoured near Natural Bridge and have discovered that their recent cannon fire has awakened PREHISTORIC CREATURES who have been cryogenically hibernating in a lost section of the Natural Bridge Caverns for millions of years. An idea forms to use these giant reptiles as WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION against the South. But, you will soon see that not everything goes as planned!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cline kindly gave us a tour when we visited in 2019. He\u2019s the creator of several foam and fiberglass attractions including the Haunted Monster Museum and the original Dinosaur Kingdom, which both burned in 2012, as well as Foamhenge, which, as the name suggests, is Styrofoam replica of Stonehenge. Cline walked us down Dinosaur Kingdom II\u2019s Western main street dubbed \u201cExtinction Junction\u201d and into the woods, where fiberglass Confederates and Union soldiers and dinosaurs battled it out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThem wacky Yankees is at it again! \u2026 But ole Dixie has more than a few tricks still left up her sleeve,\u201d the website proclaims. \u201c\u2026Enter into a time tunnel and discover Stonewall Jackson battling a vicious spinosaurus! Get surrounded by deadly meat eaters! See Abe Lincoln after he\u2019s lassoed a pteranodon chewing up the Gettysburg address! Witness a stegosaurus being milked!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mark
Mark Cline (left) balances atop a some fiberglass creatures at his Dinosaur Kingdom II at Natural Bridge, Virginia, June 29, 2019. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Mark
Mark Cline\u2019s Dinosaur Kingdom II at Natural Bridge, Virginia, June 29, 2019. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Mark
Mark Cline\u2019s Dinosaur Kingdom II at Natural Bridge, Virginia, June 29, 2019. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Mark
Mark Cline\u2019s Dinosaur Kingdom II at Natural Bridge, Virginia, June 29, 2019. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Washington, D.C.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

James Hampton’s Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nation’s Millennium General Assembly<\/a>, created around 1950-1964, in the collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"James
James Hampton’s Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nation’s Millennium General Assembly, created around 1950-1964, in the collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2022. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Wisconsin<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sid Boyum house, 237 Waubesa St<\/strong>., Madison, Wisconsin.<\/strong> Boyum, who helped create the House on the Rock, died in 1991. His house had been sold right before my visit in 2018, and the sculptures and structures in the backyard were reportedly moved elsewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Sid
Sid Boyum house, Madison, Wisconsin, 2018. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Sid
Sid Boyum house, Madison, Wisconsin, 2018. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Sid
Sid Boyum house, Madison, Wisconsin, 2018. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Inside
Inside Sid Boyum house, Madison, Wisconsin, 2018. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Nick Engelbert’s Grandview<\/a> at Hollandale, Wisconsin.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Nick
Nick Engelbert’s Grandview at Hollandale, Wisconsin. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Nick
Nick Engelbert’s Grandview at Hollandale, Wisconsin. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Nick
Nick Engelbert’s Grandview at Hollandale, Wisconsin. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Nick
Nick Engelbert’s Grandview at Hollandale, Wisconsin. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Tom “Dr. Evermor” Every\u2019s “Forevertron” off Highway 12 in Sauk County, Wisconsin, outside Baraboo. <\/strong>Every, who also helped create the House on the Rock, died in 2020 at age 81.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Tom
Tom “Dr. Evermor” Every\u2019s “Forevertron” off Highway 12 in Sauk County, Wisconsin, outside Baraboo, 2018. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Mary Nohl\u2019s home<\/a> at Fox Point, Wisconsin<\/strong>. \u201cSome people refer to me as a witch. I like that the best of all,\u201d Nohl said in Andrea Lotscher\u2019s documentary video \u201cMary Nohl: The Witch of Fox Point\u201d from around 2000. She embraced it by embedding black pebbles in her doorstep to spell out the word \u201cBoo.\u201d But it wasn\u2019t as simple as that. The rumors also stung. Nohl asserted in a 1996 interview that being called a witch was evidence of prejudice against \u201cwomen who use tools.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mary
Mary Nohl’s home at Fox Point, Wisconsin, July 9, 2018. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Mary
Mary Nohl’s home at Fox Point, Wisconsin, July 9, 2018. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"The
The dinosaur at Mary Nohl’s home at Fox Point, Wisconsin, July 9, 2018. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Mary
Mary Nohl’s home at Fox Point, Wisconsin, July 9, 2018. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Mary
Mary Nohl’s home at Fox Point, Wisconsin, July 9, 2018. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Mary
Mary Nohl’s home at Fox Point, Wisconsin, July 9, 2018. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Wooden
Wooden totems by Mary Nohl in the exhibit \u201cMary Nohl and the Walrus Club” at the Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, July 9, 2018. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Carl Peterson sculptures<\/a> at the Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, Wisconsin.<\/strong> The Swedish immigrant Carl Peterson filled his garden in St. James, Minnesota, with these sculptures during the first half of the 20th century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Carl
Carl Peterson sculptures at the Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, Wisconsin, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Herman Rusch’s <\/strong>Prairie<\/strong> Moon<\/strong><\/a> at Fountain City, Wisconsin.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Herman
Herman Rusch’s Prairie Moon at Fountain City, Wisconsin, 2018. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Herman
Herman Rusch’s Prairie Moon at Fountain City, Wisconsin, 2018. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Herman
Herman Rusch’s Prairie Moon at Fountain City, Wisconsin, 2018. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

James Tellen’s woodland sculpture garden<\/a> at Sheboygan, Wisconsi<\/strong>n.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"James
James Tellen’s woodland sculpture garden at Sheboygan, Wisconsin, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"James
James Tellen’s woodland sculpture garden at Sheboygan, Wisconsin, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"James
James Tellen’s woodland sculpture garden at Sheboygan, Wisconsin, 2021. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Wegner Grotto<\/a> by Paul and Matilda Wegner at Sparta, Wisconsin.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Wegner
Wegner Grotto by Paul and Matilda Wegner at Sparta, Wisconsin, 2018. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Wegner
Wegner Grotto by Paul and Matilda Wegner at Sparta, Wisconsin, 2018. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Father Mathias Wernerus’s Dickeyville Grotto<\/a> at Dickeyville, Wisconsin.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Father
Father Mathias Wernerus’s Dickeyville Grotto at Dickeyville, Wisconsin, 2018. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Father
Father Mathias Wernerus’s Dickeyville Grotto at Dickeyville, Wisconsin, 2018. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Father
Father Mathias Wernerus’s Dickeyville Grotto at Dickeyville, Wisconsin, 2018. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Father
Father Mathias Wernerus’s Dickeyville Grotto at Dickeyville, Wisconsin, 2018. (\u00a9Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For several years now, I’ve been making pilgrimages to visionary sites across the United States. Below are a selection of photos from those trips. I’ll add more as I go. If this is the kind of coverage of arts, cultures and activisms you appreciate, please support Wonderland by contributing to Wonderland on Patreon. And sign […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/23358"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23358"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/23358\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23403,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/23358\/revisions\/23403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}