Prepare to be awed at the Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park!

Experience the Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park:

Where Art and Science Are Spun as One

Imagine a place where vibrant color, dynamic motion, and rhythmic sound dazzle the senses, a public park and outdoor museum where local community and international visitors alike can gather around the iconic, monumental, wind-powered sculptures of world-renowned artist and engineer Vollis Simpson. A one-of-a-kind art park in the heart of Downtown Wilson, NC, projected to open in November 2013, will provide fascinating artistic, educational, and recreational opportunities at the intersection of art and science. We invite you to explore our vision and to join the effort to realize this significant creative placemaking and arts-driven economic development project.

Vollis Simpson’s gigantic whirligigs are MOVING, and not just in the wind. In one year they will look like new and be ready to go up in the air at the Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park in Wilson, NC.
Help us move Vollis’s biggest, heaviest whirligig, Horse Wagon, from his “windmill farm” in Lucama to Repair and Conservation Headquarters in Wilson. Horse Wagon is 60 feet tall, 40 feet deep, 30 feet wide, and weighs about two tons. Your donation will cover the cost of equipment and manpower. Click on the power2give logo and learn more!

About The Artist

test

The Artist

Vollis Simpson

Vollis Simpson never calls himself an artist, but the thousands of people who have visited his astounding whirligig field in Wilson County, North Carolina, certainly do. Towering fifty feet or more above ground, the more than thirty monumental whirligigs erected in his field demonstrate the power of individual vision coupled with a traditional art form. They have found a home in the Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park in Historic Downtown Wilson.

After a lifetime of repairing machinery and moving houses, Simpson found himself at age 65 with spare time and many spare parts. Rather than “sit around and watch TV,” Simpson eyed his collection, remembered a windmill he constructed during World War II, and began to build. Using some of the same rigs he’d developed for moving houses, Simpson began constructing enormous windmills in his yard. They did not resemble the working windmills of grinding or irrigation use, but referenced the concepts of weather vanes and handcrafted whirligigs that are still seen locally on houses, fence posts and barns.

The Story

Whirligig sculptures created by local, internationally renowned artist Vollis Simpson will be the centerpiece for a new world-class downtown park anchoring an industrial artisan district in Wilson, NC. This energetic cultural and educational venue will serve as a global tourist destination and a community living room, as well as a model for economic development and downtown revitalization.

The timing is perfect. Mr. Simpson, 93 and unable to care for these now weathered and deteriorated pieces in their original home in a field in Wilson County, is excited to collaborate with a dynamic public-private partnership created to save these monumental, beloved pieces and preserve their legacy. By leveraging one of Wilson’s most unique cultural assets into an economic engine of entrepreneurial job creation and tourism, the Wilson community will add vibrancy to its Historic Downtown. The Whirligig Park is the catalyst needed to propel Wilson into 21st century competitiveness and quality of place.

Wilson, NC

The City of Wilson

Located at the crossroads of southern charm and modern innovation, Historic Downtown Wilson beckons visitors and businesses alike to stop by and stay awhile.

Lining the avenues of the historically-preserved business district, quaint architecture blends the visions and fragrances of yesteryear with the inspiration of tomorrow. Weathered brick tobacco warehouses, “five & dime” stores and a Classical Revival courthouse share newly renovated street space and signage with today’s boutique shoppes, regional business incubator and burgeoning arts community.

Once heralded as “The World’s Greatest Tobacco Market,” Wilson, NC is now a thriving city of almost 50,000 people that has successfully recruited new businesses to replace the lost tobacco revenue. Wilson is now implementing a 20-year Strategic Plan that includes arts-driven economic development. Looking around at its community assets, the city recognized that its number one tourist attraction—Vollis Simpson’s “Whirligig Farm”— would benefit merchants and businesses much more, and better survive the elements, if it were located downtown. The Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park, combined with other downtown cultural institutions, will give Downtown Wilson a critical mass of year-round destinations.

The Park

OPENING DATE: NOVEMBER 2013.

Designed by award-winning landscape architecture firm Lappas+Havener, PA, the two-acre park will feature 30 of Vollis Simpson’s whirligigs—including some of the largest in his life’s work.

Visitors will never be at a loss for something to do at the Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park. A central lawn amphitheater faces a performance stage, where everything from music to poetry slams will engage audiences. The park shelter will host a Farmer’s Market, educational programs, and family fun activities. The interactive water feature in the entrance plaza will keep the kids cool on sunny days. Benches, tables and chairs invite picnicking, reading, or just enjoying art and nature. Use a phone app or the printed brochure to tour the whirligigs, sustainable storm water structure, and native plant gardens. Practice Tai Chi, have a wedding or family reunion, play flashlight tag among the reflective whirligigs—the possibilities are endless!

http://www.wilsonwhirligigfestival.com/