Vollis Simpson (1919 – May 31, 2013) was an American "outsider" folk artist known for large kinetic sculptures called "

whirligig A whirligig is an object that spins or whirls, or has at least one part that spins or whirls. It can also be a pinwheel, spinning top, buzzer, comic weathervane, gee-haw, spinner, whirlygig, whirlijig, whirlyjig, whirlybird, or simply a whirly ...

s", which Simpson made from salvaged metal. He lived and worked in

Lucama, North Carolina Lucama is a town in Wilson County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 1,108 at the 2010 census. History The Lucama Municipal Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. Geography Lucama is lo ...

. Many of his larger pieces are on display at the Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park in Wilson, North Carolina, about 10 miles from Lucama.

Life before art

Vollis Simpson was born in 1919 to Oscar and Emma Simpson of Spring Hill Township in

Wilson County, North Carolina Wilson County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 78,784. The county seat is Wilson. The county comprises the Wilson Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included within ...

. According to his wife, Jean Simpson, he was 8th of 12 children.Jean Simpson He left school after the 11th grade. Because he was not attracted to being a farmer, Simpson worked at servicing the farm's equipment, the threshers, bailers, tractors, and pumps which are used in farming.Informational sign at Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park, Wilson, North Carolina Simpson served in the

US Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical r ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

in the Pacific Theatre. He demonstrated his intuitive engineering skills while stationed on Saipan in the

Northern Marianas Islands The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI; ch, Sankattan Siha Na Islas Mariånas; cal, Commonwealth Téél Falúw kka Efáng llól Marianas), is an unincorporated territory and commonwea ...

, where he constructed a windmill out of parts from a junk

B-29 Superfortress The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is an American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the B-17 F ...

bomber to power a washing machine for his company. After the war, Simpson founded a house-moving operation with his brothers to supplement the income from the family farm. He designed and built much of the heavy equipment they used to move houses, creating a first of its kind crop sprayer. He also ran a machine shop for decades. The 1940 United States Census shows Simpson living at home with his parents, two sisters – Hazell, four years older, Eldnir, five years younger – and a younger brother, Darvell. His occupation is listed as "farming".

Art career

Simpson retired at the age of 60, and began to build wind-driven structures which he called "windmills", but came to be called whirligigs. He built a number of large whirligigs on his property in Lucama surrounding a pond across from his workshop. This was referred to by locals as "Acid Park" because of how the sculptures would reflect car headlights when people came out after dark. Simpson was commissioned to create a whirligig for the

American Visionary Art Museum The American Visionary Art Museum (AVAM) is an art museum located in Baltimore, Maryland's Federal Hill neighborhood at 800 Key Highway. The museum specializes in the preservation and display of outsider art (also known as "intuitive art," "raw ...

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. The high, wide whirligig called "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness" was installed for the museum's opening in November, 1995. He was also commissioned to create whirligigs for the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. Four of his works were installed at the Olympic's Folk Art Park and remained there on permanent display. Other of Simpson's whirligigs have been exhibited at the

American Folk Art Museum The American Folk Art Museum is an art museum in the Upper West Side of Manhattan, at 2, Lincoln Square, Columbus Avenue at 66th Street. It is the premier institution devoted to the aesthetic appreciation of folk art and creative expressions of ...

in New York City and at the

Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum (AARFAM) is the United States' first and the world's oldest continually operated museum dedicated to the preservation, collection, and exhibition of American folk art. Located just outside the histori ...

Williamsburg, Virginia Williamsburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 15,425. Located on the Virginia Peninsula, Williamsburg is in the northern part of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. It is ...

. Some of his sculptures have sold for thousands of dollars.

Recognition

In 2004 Wilson, North Carolina held its first annual Wilson Whirligig Festival. The festival was renamed in 2016 to the North Carolina Whirligig Festival, and is usually held the first full weekend of November. The Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park was created in Wilson to document, conserve, and display the large sculptures from Simpson's land in Lucama. The park had its grand opening on November 2, 2017. Simpson acted as a consultant for the renovation of the whirligigs for display. The North Carolina legislature recognized Simpson's contributions and in June 2013 designated Simpson's Whirligigs as the official folk art of North Carolina.

Death

Simpson died at his home in Lucama at the age of 94.Yardley, William (June 5, 2013
"Vollis Simpson, Visionary Artist of the Junkyard, Dies at 94"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

Quotes

" ’ve been afarmhouse mover, electric welder, carpenter, the list goes on. If you don't try something, you don't learn anything. Common sense. You come across a lot of these people that know so damn much, sometimes you find out they're dumber than I am..."

References

Notes

External links

American Visionary Art Museum - Our Visionaries

Science Museum of Minnesota article on Simpson

Indy Week (Raleigh area) article on Simpson on his death

Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, Vollis 1919 births 2013 deaths Artists from North Carolina People from Wilson County, North Carolina Folk artists United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II