Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
kinds of funny National Wildlife signs, and Christmas lights that must have put a cramp on
the local electric grid.
The makeshift campsites often have names—for example, the “Blue Bayou” that has
been known to have a pond with an alligator or a turtle in it or the “Chicken Train Camp” that
often hosts chicken bingo, a clucking competition, and tie-dye Fridays where any camper can
bring a T-shirt, a pair of underwear, or an old scarf for an application of dye. One campsite
might throw a salsa competition, the infamous “Carp Camp” has a Friday parade complete
with wacky hats, and another traditionally holds a costume contest (one year's winner was
Dorothy from
The Wizard of Oz
with tattoos from head to toe).
WHILE YOU'RE IN KANSAS
It's a bit of a drive from Winfield (about 200 miles), but if you're coming to Kansas
anyway, you'd be a fool to pass on a visit to Lucas, Kansas, a veritable mecca for
grassroots art. Also called outsider art or primitive art—though some merely call it
bizarre—grassroots art thrives in Kansas with more grassroots artists per capita than
any other state.
Lucas (pop. 422), an anything-but-sleepy town in north-central Kansas, has five
major grassroots art museums. It attracts scads of international visitors, mainly be-
cause those five museums provide raw testament to the indomitable will of the hu-
man being to create.
The Lucas legacy began in 1907 when S. P. Dinsmoor, a retired farmer, nurse,
and Civil War veteran, began building the concrete
Garden of Eden
(305 E. Second
Street, 785-525-6395, www.garden-of-eden-lucas-kansas.com). When all was said
and done, Dinsmoor had used 113 tons of cement to sculpt grape arbors, Americ-
an flags that swiveled on flagpoles, 40-foot trees, a life-size Adam and Eve, a devil
whose eyes light up (he was the first in Lucas to have electricity), and a hundred
other statues.
Also in Lucas is the
Florence Deeble's Rock Garden
(126 Fairview Street,
785-525-6118), where giant concrete postcards of Mount Rushmore made by a
retired English and history teacher are on display in her home; the
Grassroots
Arts Center
(213 S. Main Street, 785-525-6118, $6 adult admission, ht-
tp://home.comcast.net/~ymirymir), a fascinating three-building museum with art
made with everything from grapefruit peels and dried chewing gum to empty
milk of magnesia bottles; and
Mri Pilar's Garden of Isis
(213 S. Main Street,
785-525-6118), a museum that features art made from recycled materials and “re-
barb,” a recycled Barbie doll or Barbie doll part.
