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).

creative finds … region by region

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

Margaret's Grocery and Market - Rev. Hermon D. and Margaret Dennis

Between 1959 and 1979, Margaret’s Grocery was the only grocery store owned and operated by a Black woman along Highway 61. Rev. Dennis painted the building red, white, and some blue, but Margaret added the crowning touches of pink and yellow. "You can't have a bouquet of flowers without different colors. We're all God's children." This premier folk art environment has fallen into disrepair with hopes that the Mississippi Folk Art Foundation can do restoration.

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Detour Art, South, Alabama, Self-taught Artist Kelly Ludwig Detour Art, South, Alabama, Self-taught Artist Kelly Ludwig

The Quilters of Gee’s Bend

Gee’s Bend is a small rural community nestled into a curve in the Alabama River. The town’s women developed a distinctive, bold, and sophisticated quilting style based on traditional American (and African American) quilts, but with a geometric simplicity reminiscent of Amish quilts and modern art. The women of Gee’s Bend passed their skills and aesthetic down through at least six generations to the present.

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