environment – Page 2 – Deep Fried Kudzu

March 20, 2006

Joe Minter and his ‘African Village in America’ Art Environment

Joe Minter's African Village in America Art Environment, Birmingham AL

Av and I visited Joe Minter, Sr. a couple of weeks ago….I would have posted this sooner, but I wanted to finish his book, ‘To You Through Me: The Beginning of a Link of a Journey of 400 Years’ first.

We spent a little over an hour in Joe’s yard, and about an hour more talking with him and getting a tour of other pieces he is working on currently.

Okay. Joe is a straight-up genius visionary artist.

Joe Minter is a very different, very motivated person. His message isn’t 100% about “salvation” like so many other visionary artists, but rather it’s more about the American experience of Africans who came to this country. This is part of how he explains his art’s mission in his book:

G-d gave me the vision of art, to link that 400-year-journey to the Africans in America, link that truth to the children who are turning away from us, and I decided to name what I create ‘The African Village in America.’

—
A few years ago, Av and I met Lonnie Holley and bought one of his pieces of art. I don’t remember if Av asked him what it was all about or if Lonnie offered, but he turned the piece around in his hands and explained what every single thing represented. Each angle was different, and it showed a different aspect of the story he was telling.

Joe is this same way. It’s very sincere, and it’s very understandable, and it’s many-layered. Sometimes it’s very obvious and sometimes not so much. Either way, what Joe does is pure genius.

I’ve got a few pics of his yard/art environment here and over a hundred more pics at my Flickr set here. He and his wife invited us to come back whenever, especially when the plants start blooming, to see everything again. We will.

October 2, 2005January 6, 2020

Margaret’s Grocery, 2005 Pics, Vicksburg MS

The last time Av and I took pics of Margaret’s Grocery outside Vicksburg was in 2001 (my previous post for that can be found here). I had heard that Reverend H.D. Dennis (who married Margaret and promised to build her something incredible) had painted more of the buildings in pink blocks… Here are new pics from just a few days ago:

The brown sign in the middle, toward the top, says “the home of the double headed eagle”. The large pink sign says, “the true gospel is preached here”.

One of these signs says: Matt. 16-18. The rock church on the rock. Read it. And Study It.

The big red sign says: The house of prayer for all people to worship. Read your Bible and study your Bible. Jews and Gentiles.

The set with all the pics we took of Margaret’s Grocery can be found here on my Flickr set.

September 22, 2005January 6, 2020

Jim Bird’s Hay Creations in Forkland AL

On Hwy 43 between Eutaw and Demopolis (AL)…just south of Forkland and really just before you get into Demopolis, are Jim Bird’s hay creations.

You know you’re getting **really** close when you see these three signs:

Acta

Non

Verba (Acta Non Verba means : “actions speak louder than words”)

Jim Bird has been working on the hay creatures and other neat folk sculptures since 1993, when he said he wanted to make something for bored drivers to look at:

Driveway

Interstate Sign

Racecar (has #3 on side)

Plane

Elf on Unicycle with Jumping Dog at Jim Bird's Hay Creations, Forkland AL

This is an elf on a unicycle with a jumping dog. I think this might have been used on his lead boat for the ‘Christmas on the River’ water parade that happens each year.

See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil

Kilroy

Tin Man w/ Heart at Jim Bird's Hay Creations, Forkland AL

Tin Man – this is supposed to be the only piece that he spent over $5 on, because of the aluminum paint.

Caterpillar

Spider

Creepy Mailbox at Jim Bird's Hay Creations, Forkland AL

Scary Mailbox

Rudolph and another reindeer

B and O Railroad

Party Clock (supposed to be set to 5pm – I think it’s more on 4pm right now)

A woman being chased by a bull

Roll Tide!

Betty Boop

These, and more pics, can be found here at my Flickr set.

September 13, 2005

Ave Maria Grotto, The Most Wonderful Religious Folk Art, in Cullman AL

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My interest in religious folk art started when I first visited the amazing works of Brother Joseph Zoettl in my hometown – I’ve probably been there thirty times or more. His works have been written about countless times; people come from all over the country – all over the world – to see his creations.

There are so many great folk art displays here in the South….I’ll post pics of more places soon.

In super-wonderful news, I got an email last week from the Ogden Museum of Southern Art – my fav museum – in New Orleans that everything is okay; there really wasn’t a flooding problem where they’re located and they weren’t broken into. Yay!

BTW, pics I’ve taken of Margaret’s Grocery are here; pics of William C. Rice’s Cross Garden are here; I’ll post pics of Palestine Gardens soon.

Ave Maria Grotto is on the grounds of St. Bernard Abbey (it’s “bernerd”, not “Ber-nard”, like Bernard Parrish or the Saint Bernard dog) in Cullman, AL. All the pieces in the Grotto are the works of Brother Joseph Zoettl, a monk at the abbey, who had a hunchback due to an accident he had as a child. Luckily, this injury made it more comfortable for him to work on miniatures, which he started as a hobby. As the interest in his creations grew, the abbey dedicated space for him to be able to make and display even more of his works.

People would send him all kinds of things help build his models, and he used everything – marbles to dishes to shells and even toilet floats. A truly great folk artist.

Brother Zoettl died in 1961 after completing about 125 works.

It takes anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour to walk through the Grotto; the distance is actually pretty short, but there’s so much to look at you’ll want to stop and view everything. Admission is $5 for adults (if you have a AAA card, it’s $4).

All of the pics from Ave Maria Grotto are in a set here on Flickr.

August 12, 2005January 6, 2020

Margaret’s Grocery, Just Outside Vicksburg MS

I was going through some of our old photos last week (scanning them in with my new fabulous Canon scanner) when I found these three pics that Av and I took back in 2000 of Margaret’s Grocery.

Last month, Av and I went by William C. Rice’s Cross Garden in Prattville AL (posted here), so to continue the series of roadside folkart religion…..

The store was actually built by Margaret’s husband, the Reverend H.D. Dennis. One of the more prominent signs states that, “All is Welcome Jews and Gentiles Here at Margaret’s Gro and Mkt and Bible Class”. Av and I didn’t stop in that day to meet Rev. Dennis, but we did take these (admittedly not-so-great) pics. Next time we’re in Vicksburg, we’ll take more pics – I also understand that the Rev. has added more pink squares since we last visited, and that they did a good deal of work after Sept. 11.

Margaret’s Grocery

July 25, 2005December 23, 2019

William C. Rice’s Cross Garden, Prattville AL

These are pics from William C. Rice’s cross garden in Prattville. (articles and features about the place can be found here and here)

Mr. Rice’s place has been featured in countless magazine articles, folk art books, etc. and I’ve wanted to see it for ages. Av and I love folk art. Religious folk art (even when it’s not our religion) is so great – I have a real respect for it.

Growing up in Cullman, I would go several times each year to Ave Maria Grotto just to marvel at Brother Zoettl’s incredible work. Av and I once went to Palestine Gardens (formerly called Palestinian Gardens) – a place in Lucedale, MS – to see the work of a Presbyterian minister who began to build representations of Israel out of concrete back in the 1950’s. Compared to the Grotto, PG is much more crudely constructed, but if you’re in that part of MS, it’s worth seeing once. BTW, we didn’t know to expect this when we visited, but our experience with the gentleman who lead us on a tour of the little park was that he did some hard-core ‘testifying’ (which to me is really okay, I am happy to hear how people got into their religion and how their life has changed).

Anyway, if you have the choice of Ave Maria Grotto or Palestine Gardens, definitely go to the Grotto as the work there – the details and such – is just amazing.

Here are pics of Mr. Rice’s cross garden. Mr. Rice died last year, but his family says they will keep things up the way they are now.