Detour Art
A curated guide to Artist-built Environments
region by region, coast-to-coast.
Dedicated to the sheer joy of outsider, folk, visionary, self-taught, vernacular art and environment discoveries found all along the back roads (and side streets).
Artist-built Environments in the United States
Note: Things change, so check first before arriving. When visiting art environments, remember they are usually on private property, so please be respectful and don’t trespass.
“PECULIAR TRAVEL SUGGESTIONS ARE DANCING LESSONS FROM GOD.”
— Kurt Vonnegut
Road stories
World's Largest Collection of the World’s Smallest Versions of the World's Largest Things — Erika Nelson
Erika Nelson is a visionary artist, educator and one of America’s foremost experts and speakers on the World’s Largest Things. She is a national researcher and speaker on Grassroots Art environments, Roadside Attractions and Architecture, and the World’s Largest Things. Nelson is also the founder and curator of a unique and innovative traveling roadside attraction and museum called “The World’s Largest Collection of the World’s Smallest Versions of the World’s Largest Things.”
Paradise in the middle of Kansas - Garden of Eden
This jaw-dropper is the oldest complete folk art environment in the United States, creating a creative epicenter in this rural Kansas town. OK, it's not exactly the exact Garden in the Bible, but Samuel P. Dinsmoor began pouring forth his vision in 1907 when, at the age of 64, he completed his Log Cabin Home, built from native limestone. Then, using the newest building compound of its day -- concrete -- he spent the next 18 years surrounding his house with a narrative sculpture garden.
