I finally made the drive to the Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park in Historic Downtown Wilson, North Carolina. I had first heard about this place several years ago and it had been on my list ever since. Tucked into the heart of Wilson, this one-of-a-kind park is home to the whimsical, wind-powered sculptures created by folk artist Vollis Simpson. Simpson never called himself an artist, but the New York Times did. When he passed away in 2013, the Times described him as “a visionary artist of the junkyard who made metal scraps into magnificent things that twirled and jangled and clattered.” His creations were built almost entirely from recycled and salvaged materials, and in 2013 they were named North Carolina’s official folk art. The park itself was born out of a true community effort, shaped by hundreds of Wilson citizens including artists, neighborhood associations, youth groups, and local business leaders. It has since been recognized as the Best Sculpture Park in the USA by USA Today’s 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards. Needless to say, I had been looking forward to this visit for a long time.
It was a windy, cool day, and honestly, I could not have picked a better one. As I stepped into the park, the gusts were already doing their work. Every whirligig around me was spinning, swirling, and catching the light in ways that made the whole park feel alive. The wind is not just a backdrop at a place like this. it is the engine. Without it, these towering sculptures are impressive. With it, they are absolutely magical. Reflective panels caught the sun and sent flashes of light dancing across the ground. Metal arms turned in wide, hypnotic circles. The clatter and hum of moving parts filled the air. It was the kind of day Vollis Simpson must have imagined when he first set these creations in motion on his land, wind-driven and free.
According to the park’s website, this is the world’s largest collection of whirligigs, and standing there in the middle of it, that claim is easy to believe. The park is home to 31 of Vollis Simpson’s monumental wind-driven sculptures, each one towering above you and demanding your attention. These are not small, decorative pieces. Some of them reach several stories high, constructed from salvaged metal, bicycle parts, old road signs, and just about anything else Simpson could repurpose into something extraordinary. The sheer scale of the collection is staggering, and the fact that every single piece was built by one man, largely by hand, out of recycled materials, makes it even more remarkable.
What a perfect day to visit the Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park. The wind was steady and generous, and the whirligigs responded in kind, turning and spinning and filling the air with a sound that was unlike anything I had expected. It was not loud or jarring. It was rhythmic, layered, almost meditative. The soft clatter of metal, the whoosh of blades cutting through the cool air, the occasional creak of a towering sculpture leaning into the breeze. It all blended together into something that felt less like noise and more like music.
At some point I found a spot to sit, closed my eyes, and just let it wash over me. In that moment, surrounded by the gentle hum of 31 wind-driven sculptures all moving at once, I felt something I had not expected from an outdoor art park. I felt peace.
And I could not help but wonder if Vollis Simpson had imagined this. Not just the spectacle of it, but the feeling. A quiet man who never called himself an artist, who built towering, spinning, clattering things out of junk and scrap metal, out on his land in Wilson, North Carolina. Did he know that one day strangers would sit among his creations, close their eyes, and feel something deep and still in the middle of all that beautiful motion? If so, Vollis, you succeeded beyond measure.
If you are in the Wilson, NC area, check out Whirligig Park.