Vollis Simpson

Vollis Simpson (1919 – 31 May 2013)[1] was an American "outsider" artist known for large kinetic sculptures known as "whirligigs" made from salvaged metal. He lived and worked in Lucama, North Carolina.

Portrait of Vollis Simpson, Lucama, North Carolins, April 19, 2011

Early life

Vollis Simpson was born in 1919 to a Osco and Emma Simpson of Spring Hill Township in Wilson County, North Carolina. According to one source, he had eleven siblings.

The 1940 US 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".[2]

Simpson served in the US Army Air Corps during the Second World War 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. After the war, he 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, and ran a machine shop as well.

Art career

1996 - commissioned to create whirligigs for the Olympics in Atlanta.

Recognitions

June 2013 - North Carolina House and Senate recognize Simpson's contributions and designate whirligigs as the official folk art of North Carolina.[3]

Quotes

"[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..."

References

  1. ↑ "New York Times".
  2. ↑ http://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
  3. ↑ http://www.wilsontimes.com/News/Feature/Story/22211292---N-C--House-honors-Vollis-Simpson N.C. Legislature designates whirligigs as official folk art of North Carolina

General References

External links


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