Vollis Simpson
{{Short description|American folk artist and dramatist (1919–2013)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Vollis Simpson
| image = Portrait of Vollis Simpson, Lucama, North Carolina, April 19, 2011 (3x4 cropped).jpg
| caption = Simpson in 2011
| birth_date = 1919
| death_date = {{death date|2013|5|31}} (aged 94)
| death_place = Lucama, North Carolina
| nationality = American
| years_active = c. 1984-2013
| known_for = Whirligig folk art
}}
Vollis Simpson (1919 – May 31, 2013){{cite news|last=Yardley|first=William|date=June 5, 2013 |title=Vollis Simpson, Visionary Artist of the Junkyard, Dies at 94|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/06/arts/design/vollis-simpson-artist-dies-at-94.html?_r=0|access-date=October 30, 2017}} was an American "outsider" folk artist known for large kinetic sculptures called "whirligigs", which Simpson made from salvaged metal. He lived and worked in Lucama, North Carolina. 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
{{Quote box
|quote = "[I've been a] farmhouse 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..."
|author = — Vollis Simpson
|source = from PBS documentary about Simpson's life{{cite web |title=PBS North Carolina Presents {{!}} Changes in the Wind {{!}} Season 2022 |website=PBS |url=https://www.pbs.org/video/changes-in-the-wind-vb4rny/ |access-date=2022-08-01}}
|width = 20em
|align = left
|quoted = yes
}}
Vollis Simpson was born January 17, 1919, to Oscar and Emma Watson Simpson of Spring Hill Township in Wilson County, North Carolina. According to his wife, Jean Simpson, he was 8th of 12 children.Jean Simpson{{Better source needed|date=December 2024}} He left school after the 11th grade.
Though not attracted to farming, Simpson found work servicing the farm's equipment, such as 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 during World War II in the Pacific Theatre. He demonstrated his intuitive engineering skills while stationed on Saipan in the Northern Marianas Islands, where he constructed a windmill out of parts from a junk B-29 Superfortress bomber to power a washing machine for his company.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/06/arts/design/06vollis.html|title=Junkyard Poet of Whirligigs and Windmills|last=Shane|first=Scott|date=April 5, 2010|work=The New York Times|access-date=October 30, 2017}}{{Cite web|url=https://southwritlarge.com/bios/vollis-simpson/|title=Vollis Simpson {{!}} South Writ Large|website=southwritlarge.com|access-date=October 30, 2017}}
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.{{Better source needed|date=December 2024}} He also ran a machine shop for decades.
The 1940 United States Census shows Simpson living at home with his parents, two sisters – Hazel, four years older, Eleanor, five years younger – and younger brother, Daryl. His occupation is listed as "farming".[https://1940census.archives.gov/search/?search.census_year=1940&search.city=&search.county=Wilson&search.page=2&search.result_type=image&search.state=NC&search.street=#filename=m-t0627-02989-00456.tif&name=98-17&type=image&state=NC&index=33&pages=42&bm_all_text=Bookmark 1940 US Census Record]
Art career
File:Whirligig Park, Wilson, North Carolina 04.jpg
Simpson retired at the age of 65,{{Cite web |date=2016-03-21 |title=Story of the Whirligigs in Downtown Wilson Whirligig Park |url=https://www.wilsonwhirligigpark.org/the-story |access-date=2024-04-07}} 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.{{Cite web|url=http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/acid-park|title=Whirligig Park (Formerly Acid Park)|website=Atlas Obscura|access-date=October 30, 2017}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.indyweek.com/indyweek/the-extraordinary-legacy-of-whirligig-creator-vollis-simpson/Content?oid=3649601|title=The extraordinary legacy of whirligig creator Vollis Simpson|last=Vitiello|first=Chris|date=June 5, 2013|work=Indy Week|access-date=October 30, 2017}}
Simpson was commissioned to create a whirligig for the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore. The {{convert|55|ft|m|adj=on}} high, {{convert|45|ft|m|adj=on}} wide whirligig called "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness" was installed for the museum's opening in November, 1995.{{cite book|author=Cindy Kelly|title=Outdoor Sculpture in Baltimore: A Historical Guide to Public Art in the Monumental City|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_sdQNyf4q-IC&pg=PA129|date=3 May 2011|publisher=JHU Press|isbn=978-0-8018-9722-1|pages=129–}} He was also commissioned to create whirligigs for the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. Four of his works were installed at the Olympic Folk Art Park and remained there on permanent display.{{cite news|title=Olympic Notebook: Whirligigs headed for Atlanta |newspaper=Battle Creek Enquirer |location=Battle Creek, Michigan,USA|agency=Associated Press|date=June 19, 1996|page=4B|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/14775083/battle_creek_enquirer/|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = October 30, 2017 }} {{free access}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.atlantapublicart.com/folk-art.php|title=The Atlanta Public Arts Legacy Fund: Folk Art Park|website=www.atlantapublicart.com|publisher=APAL Fund in care of The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta|access-date=October 30, 2017}}
Other of Simpson's whirligigs have been exhibited at the American Folk Art Museum in New York City and at the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum in Williamsburg, Virginia. Some of his sculptures have sold for thousands of dollars.
Recognition
In 2004, Wilson, North Carolina, held its first annual Wilson Whirligig Festival.{{Cite web|url=https://www.wilsonnc.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Community-Facts-2.pdf|title=Profile of the City|website=www.wilsonnc.org|access-date=October 29, 2017}} The festival was renamed in 2016 to the North Carolina Whirligig Festival,{{Cite news|url=http://www.wilsontimes.com/stories/whirligig-festival-goes-statewide,70885|title=Whirligig Festival goes statewide|date=August 7, 2016|work=The Wilson Times|access-date=October 29, 2017|publisher=Morgan Dickerman|location=Wilson, North Carolina, USA}} and is usually held the first full weekend of November.{{Cite web|url=https://www.wilsonnc.org/whirligig-festival/|title=North Carolina Whirligig Festival|website=www.wilsonnc.org|publisher=City of Wilson|access-date=October 29, 2017}} The Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park was created in Wilson to document, conserve, and display the large sculptures from Simpson's land in Lucama.{{Cite web|url=https://www.wilsonwhirligigpark.org/the-story/|title=Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park: The Story|date=21 March 2016 |publisher=The Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park Project|access-date=October 30, 2017}} The park had its grand opening on November 2, 2017.{{Cite news|url=http://www.reflector.com/Entertainment/2017/10/29/Art-in-motion-Wilson-prepares-to-open-whirligig-park.html|title=Art in motion: Wilson prepares to open whirligig park|last=Beth Velliquette|first=Beth|date=October 29, 2017|work=Reflector.com|access-date=October 29, 2017|publisher=Cooke Communications|location=Greenville, North Carolina, USA}} 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.http://www.wilsontimes.com/News/Feature/Story/22211292---N-C--House-honors-Vollis-SimpsonN.C. Legislature designates whirligigs as official folk art of North Carolina {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304212356/http://www.wilsontimes.com/News/Feature/Story/22211292---N-C--House-honors-Vollis-Simpson |date=2016-03-04 }}{{Cite web|url=http://www.netstate.com/states/symb/art/nc_whirligigs.htm|title=North Carolina State Folk Art: Whirligigs|website=www.netstate.com|publisher=NSTATE|access-date=October 30, 2017}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.nccommerce.com/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=Je-0eWMPbAY%3D&tabid=668&mid=2764|title=General Assembly honors Simpson, designates new state icons|date=June 26, 2013|work=Newslink|publisher=North Carolina Department of Commerce|access-date=October 30, 2017}}
Death
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category|Vollis Simpson}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20130809194655/http://avam.org/our-visionaries/vollis-simpson.shtml American Visionary Art Museum - Our Visionaries]
- [http://www.smm.org/sln/vollis/ Science Museum of Minnesota article on Simpson]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20060619143903/http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/offthemap/html/travelogue_artist_7.htm?true PBS Independent Lens 'Off The Map' article on Simpson]
- [http://www.indyweek.com/indyweek/the-extraordinary-legacy-of-whirligig-creator-vollis-simpson/Content?oid=3649601 Indy Week (Raleigh area) article on Simpson on his death]
- [http://www.wilsonwhirligigpark.org/ Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, Vollis}}
Category:Artists from North Carolina
Category:People from Wilson County, North Carolina
Category:American folk artists
Category:United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II